Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- COPD is an umbrella term for a group of lung diseases that include chronic bronchitis, emphysema and small airways disease. Lung damage over a long period of time impairs the flow of air in and out of the lungs and causes breathlessness
- COPD is the 5th biggest killer in the UK[i] and the 5th biggest killer worldwide[ii]. Every hour COPD is estimated to kill over 250 people worldwide[iii]
- COPD is the only major cause of death whose incidence is on the increase[iv] and is expected to be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020 (exceeded only by heart disease and stroke)[v],[vi],[vii],[viii],[ix]
- There are an estimated 3 million people with COPD in the UK[x], although only an estimated 900,000 (1.5% of the population) are correctly diagnosed[xi]
- 24,160 people in the UK died as a result of COPD in 2005[xii]. The disease kills more people every year in the UK than bowel cancer, breast cancer or prostate cancer[xiii]
- COPD is the third biggest cause of respiratory death in the UK, accounting for more than one fifth (23%) of all respiratory deaths[xiv]
- In 2005 COPD killed more women than breast cancer: 11,302 died of COPD, 10,969 died of breast cancer[xv]
- In the UK, the rate of COPD has been increasing nearly three times faster amongst women than men[xvi]
- Women are more susceptible to developing COPD than men – their lung function worsens with less duration of smoking or intensity of smoking than that of men[xvii]
- COPD is caused mainly by smoking, but also by exposure to airborne pollution, to harmful fumes or particles at home or at work, or by inheriting a genetic deficiency. Some research suggests that COPD may be related to childhood lung disease
To view the British Lung Foundation's 'Invisible Lives' report looking into the people and places facing the greatest challenge from COPD please click here.
[i] National Statistics (2006) Health Statistics Quarterly 30 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ30.pdf
[ii] A Practice Nurse Supplement: Nov 2003
[iii] WHO. The World Health Report 2002. Reducing risks, promoting healthy life. MDI.WHR.202.A, The World Health Organization,
Geneva, 2002
[iv] Murray CJL, Lopez AD. Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990-2020: Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet 1997; 349 1498-504
[v] European Respiratory Society (2003) European White Lung Book
[vi] Murray CJ & Lopez AD. Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990–2020: Global Burden of Disease Study.
Lancet 1997; 349:1498–1504
[vii] Murray CJL & Lopez AD. The global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases,
injuries and risk factors in 1990, and projected to 2020. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1996. P361
[viii] Mannino, DM. et al. The natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Eur Respir J, 2006. 27(3): p. 627-43
[ix] Lopez AD. et al. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: current burden and future projections. Eur Respir J, 2006. 27 (2): p.
188-207
[x] Stang P, Lydick E, Silberman C et al. The Prevalence of COPD: Using smoking rates to estimate disease frequency in the general population. Chest 2000; 117: 354S-359S
[xi] Lung Report III (2003), British Lung Foundation
[xii] Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition, British Thoracic Society 2006
[xiii] Cancer Research UK: http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/mortality/ and Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition, British Thoracic Society 2006
[xiv] Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition, British Thoracic Society 2006
[xv] National Statistics (2006) Death registrations in England and Wales: 2005, causes; taken from Health Statistics Quarterly 30 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ30.pdf
[xvi] Breathing Fear – The COPD Effect, Allen & Hanburys 2003
[xvii] British Lung Foundation (2005) – Femme Fatality: The rise and rise of COPD in women
[xviii] Lung Report III (2003), British Lung Foundation
