Nurses raise awareness of one of Britain�s biggest killers
Nurses at Good Hope Hospital have been raising awareness about a health problem that is often misunderstood but is one of the biggest killers in the country.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – or COPD – is a term for a number of diseases that lead to breathing difficulties and damaged lungs.
The condition is most common among people who smoke – and now kills more people than coronary heart disease in the United Kingdom.
Wednesday November 16 was World COPD day and nurses at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield held a series of events to raise awareness about the condition among patients and staff.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Kay Oakley said: “We see around 700 patients a year with COPD at Good Hope. By far the biggest cause is smoking, but there may also be environmental causes, such as dust or chemical contamination, or genetic causes.”
The nurses were publicising the symptoms of COPD, which are breathlessness, phlegm, coughing and getting out of breath during physical activity.
Catherine Fairey, the Secretary of the Breath Easy Group, a patient support group linked with the British Lung Foundation, said: “People need to know more about their conditions.
“Just because COPD can’t be cured, it doesn’t mean there aren’t treatments, such as inhalers, drug therapies and oxygen therapy that can ease symptoms and make people’s lives better”
For more information, contact Andy Comber, Head of Communications, at Good Hope NHS Trust: 0121 378 2211 ext 1146, Mob: 07974 575104.Source : Good Hope