When I was in my 30s, I was a member of a group of four guys at work who liked to go to Las Vegas together. Two of us were in our 30s and two were around 60. None of our wives liked going to Vegas, so we all jumped in the car, took turns driving and got there as soon as possible. I guess we were in a hurry to lose our hard-earned money. The trips were always enjoyable, though. We all had fun together.
The two older guys were both smokers, while me and the other younger group member had never smoked in our lives. The two things that we noticed about the smokers were that they seemed to always be short of breath when we walked around in Las Vegas and in the morning they had horrible coughs. These issues seemed to interfere with the quality of life for both men. My younger friend and I sometimes mentioned to the older fellows that they could improve their breathing if they would give up the cigarettes. Of course, that fell on deaf ears. Neither man wanted to quit smoking, even though they knew it was negatively impacting them.
Not long afterward, I moved to another town to accept a better job. A couple of years after I moved, I learned that the oldest of our card-shark group had died. The cigarettes finally got him, even though the official cause of death was attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He was only in his early 60s. If he had never smoked, or if he had stopped at some point, he probably could have spent many more years enjoying his family, friends and his visits to Las Vegas.
When my two older friends first started smoking, there were no warning labels on cigarette packages, concerning the negative health impacts from smoking. When they took their first puffs, nearly everyone else smoked, too. Today, when someone smokes their first cigarette, they know that smoking can eventually lead to lung cancer, emphysema or COPD. Because of the health risks, fewer people smoke today.
But there are still far too many teenagers who do start smoking and get hooked, due to the addictiveness of nicotine. And, there are millions of adults who became addicted to cigarettes while in their teen years and have never been able to break the habit. That is why there are more than 24 million men and women in the United States who are suffering from COPD. Eight out of every 10 COPD cases are directly related to smoking. The other two out of every 10 are caused by environmental exposures or genetics.
A positive indicator is that awareness of COPD is growing rapidly. A 2009 study indicated that 68 percent of the population know about COPD, compared to 64 percent in 2004. One negative factor is that only 44 percent of the population realize that COPD can be treated. And that is one of the reasons November is now known as National COPD Awareness Month.
COPD can be diagnosed in the doctor”s office through an easy breathing test called a spirometry. The test measures the amount of air exhaled during the first second. Obviously, the first step toward improvement, for people with smoking-caused COPD, is to quit smoking. Then, there are numerous prescription drugs available for their doctors to prescribe to them.
While COPD involves some irreversible damage to the lungs, excellent results are possible when an individual is willing to quit smoking, accept treatment and get involved in a fitness program aimed at improving cardiovascular fitness. Some lifelong smokers believe that there is nothing that can be done to help their damaged lungs. We now know that just isn”t the case.
Gary Dickson is the publisher and editor of the Record-Bee. Contact him at gdickson@record-bee.com or 263-5636, ext. 24.
