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Breathing is an unconscious act, of those who go unnoticed while life depends on it. But for 251 million people worldwide, -2.9 million in Spain – this vital process is a daily challenge because of the inflammation and obstruction of the airways caused by obstructive pulmonary disease chronic ( COPD
This condition is already the third leading cause of death in the world – behind ischemic heart disease and heart attacks – and the fourth in Spain, according to data from a article published in The Lancet and those of the World Health Organization (WHO) .To get an idea of the seriousness, only in Spain, a person every 20 minutes kills, according to the figures of the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR)
Although the data may seem discouraging, it is not all that bad: COPD is the leading cause of preventable death in our country and some of the measures to prevent it are in our hands.
Smoking is the habit that produces the most COPD in Spain
Unlike in other countries where most cases result from the inhalation of smoke generated by stoves to poorly ventilated coal and wood, the most common origin in Spain is smoking "If people do not smoke, they would eliminate between 70% and 80% of cases," says the scientist of the Institute of Health Research of the hospital of Princess Joan Soriano, who participated in the task of clbadification of the world's most deadly diseases. Planet.
There is no doubt that quitting is worth it and, as World COPD Day, celebrated last Wednesday to spread the word, "is never too early, not too late "
Scientists know that cutting with this bad habit stops the progress of the pathology and even reverses the effects if it occurs when the first symptoms appear : daily cough, sputum and fatigue that appears when performing actions we are used to. One of the problems is that 81.7% of people with this disease are undiagnosed, according to the preliminary results of the EPI-SCAN II SEPAR study. So, if these signs appear, experts recommend consulting a doctor, especially if we are 40 or older and if we have been smoking at some point in our lives.
The prevalence of the disease is higher among women
This research also reveals that men are more aware of the problem than women, a social group in which COPD cases increased by 70% over the course of the year. the last decade . At least, this suggests the fact that "the underdiagnosis is higher among them than among them", according to Soriano. The epidemiologist, a member of the scientific committee of the EPI-SCAN II study, to monitor the health of 10,200 people in the 17 autonomous communities, said that 88.2% of women over 40 with COPD did not know that has the disease, while the figure in the male population is 76%.
To improve these data, the expert points out that it's "never too late to get spirometry, nor too early to quit." The test referred to is measuring the lungs' ability to take and expel from the air and is painless. " Health centers should do this almost systematically, so that the disease is detected at an early stage which matters," says the head of the San Juan Hospital's pneumology department. Alicante and co-director of the SeparPacientes program, Eusebi Chiner. "COPD can not only but needs to be prevented," he says. And to do it, you have to have good habits.
Walking an hour a day helps with rehabilitation
In addition to smoking, pollution is another factor that increases the risk of COPD. The negative effects of greenhouse gases on our health are also not new. Pollution, as in BuenaVida, is the leading environmental cause of diseases and premature deaths worldwide: "It has been shown that the prevalence of respiratory diseases, as well as their symptoms, increased when they lived in Proximity to a highway or an area with heavy vehicular traffic, "says Chiner.
Isolating from this problem by living in the cities does not seem easy, but the experts also make recommendations in this regard, " do not exercise your activities outside when there is notifications of high levels of contamination "said Chiner. Which does not mean, in any case, that you have to stop doing physical activities.
"To say that exercise prevents COPD would be a bit daring, although it is true that is walking at least daily An hour away from home is good and the results are almost equivalent to some respiratory rehabilitation programs, "says Chiner. The pulmonologist also points out that there are groups that manage to overcome their state of health surprisingly, such as sports enthusiasts like rowing. In summary, the scientific community is clear: the benefits of sport far outweigh the damage caused by air pollution in cities.
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