Breathing Association will set up awareness and early diagnosis stations for COPD

COPD is an obstructive lung disease that causes 3 million deaths a year, and is mostly suffered by smokers. On November 13-14 in several medical centers in Israel

The Breathe Association will set up awareness and early diagnosis stations for COPD throughout the country, courtesy of GlaxoSmithKline, as part of a special promotion to mark International Disease Awareness Day, which will be celebrated in Israel and around the world on November 19. The operation will take place on Thursday and Friday, November 13-14, 2008, with the aim of increasing awareness of the disease and conducting a free lung function test for the interested public. The operation will be accompanied at some positions by doctors specializing in respiratory diseases, among them Dr. David Stav, Director of the Pulmonology Institute at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center and Dr. Gershon Fink, Director of the Pulmonary Unit at the Kaplan Medical Center and Chairman of the Association of Pulmonologists in Israel. The tests will be conducted by qualified lung technicians.

The examinees at the information booths will receive reading material about COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), which is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that causes approximately 3 million deaths worldwide each year and is on a constant rise. According to worldwide estimates by 2020, COPD will be the third leading cause of death and among the leading diseases in the world. COPD is defined as a multi-systemic disease that affects lung function when, along with breathing difficulties, other symptoms appear such as a strong cough with sputum, increased fatigue, shortness of breath mainly with exertion, wheezing (whistling sound or wheezing while breathing), chest pressure and more. The main reason for the development of COPD is current or past smoking.

In Israel, about 3,000 COPD patients die every year. According to the data of a sample study recently conducted by Dr. David Stav from the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center and Dr. Meir Raz from Maccabi Health Services, it was found that one in five smokers over the age of 45 develops COPD. In addition, the study found that approx. 80% of COPD patients are undiagnosed and completely unaware of their disease.

Dr. Gershon Fink, Director of the Pulmonary Unit at the Kaplan Medical Center and Chairman of the Association of Pulmonary Physicians in Israel, stated that: "The main cause of COPD is smoking. COPD, which causes narrowing of the airways and destruction of the lung tissue, leads the patient to eventually feel, Cough is accompanied by a lot of phlegm in the morning and during the day and in addition, shortness of breath which appears initially with hard efforts and then with lighter efforts, a situation that harms the patient's quality of life."

Dr. David Stav, Director of the Pulmonary Institute at the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, added that: "There is enormous importance in early detection of COPD in order to prevent the disease from deteriorating irreversibly. Moreover, early detection and medical intervention contributes to improving the patient's quality of life and prolongs life expectancy. The most common symptom is a cough that does not go away, accompanied by a lot of sputum, which is mainly common among smokers over the age of 40.

And in the process it was learned that a new comprehensive and long-term study, recently conducted in 42 countries around the world, determined for the first time that drug treatment among COPD patients significantly slows down the progression of the disease and shows a trend in reducing mortality. This is the first study that has demonstrated that there is a positive effect of any drug treatment on the progression of COPD, and so far no drug has been found that can slow down the deterioration of lung functions. This is a drug called Sartide, which is approved for use in Israel among COPD and asthma patients. The study included about 6,000 patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The group of patients who were treated with Seratide showed a significant slowdown in the rate of decline in pulmonary function and a slowdown in the deterioration of the COPD disease compared to the control group. As mentioned, this is the first study of its kind that presented a significant effect of drug treatment on the decrease in pulmonary function and the deterioration of pulmonary disease, which causes over 3 million deaths worldwide each year. During the study, the patients were examined every 24 weeks for three years of follow-up. The effect of drug treatment with steroids and its components on reducing mortality from the disease, in moderate and severe COPD patients, was examined. The results showed a trend in reducing mortality. In addition, the study presented a significant decrease in the number of exacerbations, attacks that require treatment with oral steroids or antibiotics and a significant improvement in the patients' quality of life.

The important results of the study showed that steroid treatment reduces by more than 50% the decrease in lung function caused by COPD, that is, it shows a significant slowdown in the deterioration of the disease. The patients who took Sertide showed a reduction in lung function decline compared to the control group. The results of the study, which is a milestone in the medical treatment of COPD all over the world, were published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The drug, called Sertide, is marketed in Israel by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and is approved for use by the Ministry of Health. The drug is included in the health basket for the treatment of COPD and asthma patients and is offered in all health funds at prices ranging from 32 to 69 shekels, depending on the different doses. The drug has a dual action, dilating bronchioles and treating the inflammatory symptoms of the disease. Sertide enables patients to significantly improve their quality of life, reduce exacerbations and hospitalizations, and from now on, following the research, it turns out that it also contributes to slowing the progression of the disease.

Information and inspection stations will be set up in the cities of Haifa, Tel Aviv and Herzliya. Haifa - this coming Friday the /1114, at the Grand Canyon between the hours of 10:00 and 14:00. Tel Aviv - this coming Friday at /1114 Bedzingoff Center between the hours of 10:00-14:00. On Friday the 1114th at the entrance to the Carmel Market, corner of Nachalat Binyamin during the hours of 9:00-13:00. Herzliya - on Friday 14/11 in Sderot Chen between the hours of 9:00-13:00. On Thursday 13/11 at the Seven Stars Mall from 17:00 p.m. to 21:00 p.m.