Spotlight on COPD and The COPD Foundation. Do You Know What it is?

In exactly twelve days I will be graduating from College which means that I am one of the hundreds of thousands of soon to be graduates looking for employment. My internship here at WEGO Health has been wonderful in the sense that it allows me to write and to learn at the same time, and what could be better than doing that while having the opportunity to affect so many people in a positive way. A good friend of mine recently mentioned to me that her mother, Peggy, was Director of Development for the COPD Foundation and that they were looking to take on new people. Given that the position sounded very smilar to many of the things I have been doing here this past semester, I decided to take an impromptu trip to New York City last Thursday and talk to her. We met at a book release party for Jonathan Tisch's new book "Citizen You". The front room at the Museum of Modern Art was filled with New York's most influential philanthropists, from those who donate millions to charity to Jonathan's seven year old daughter Mason, whose class had taken time to plant a tree during the school day. After getting over the unexpected pleasure of shaking hands with former President Bill Clinton, I chatted briefly with Peggy Brown and John Walsh, the founder.

I have to admit I didnt realize everything that COPD entailed and what a serious health threat it is. I wanted to share with all of you some of the things I learned last week as well as some additional research I have done on my own about COPD. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the condition, COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and it is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. COPD usually impedes breathing in the following ways:

• By causing airways and airsacs losing their elasticity
• By destroyng the walls of the airsacs
• By severely inflamming the walls of the airsacs
• By overproducing mucus,which clogs the airways

In the US when we think of COPD we mostly tend to think of Emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Bronchitis.

Over 12 million people in the US have COPD, and shockingly, it is the FOURTH LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH.

There is no cure for COPD and it is a major cause of disability. A new study also links COPD Flareups to increased risks of heart atta... A recent British Study found that one to five days after a COPD flareup you have a 2.27 fold increased risk of a heart attack and one to fortynine days later you have a 1.26 fold incrased risk of a stroke. Since the disease is progressive, many people eventually find themselves unable to cook, clean,walk, or simply take care of themselves.

I'd like to shine a spotlight on the COPD Foundation and all the wonderful things they are doing to help combat the disease. The COPD Foundation is based in Miami, Florida, where John Walsh, who created the foundation after his own personal struggles with the disease, resides. The COPD Foundation spreads awareness through resources on its website, great programs, and partnerships with celebrities. Recently, Celebrities met in Ridgewod CT where they raced 6,000 miles traveling to major cities and screening many who are unknowingly at risk of COPD. Celebrities included grammy winner Patty Loveless, NASCAR bombshell Danica Patrick, NFL Star Micheal Strahan, and former olympian/ reality tv star Bruce Jenner. Together they were able to help screen 27,000 individuals who might otherwise not known if they had COPD until, like many , they had already lost half their lung function. The foundation has also launched Operation 435, which encourages those with COPD to band together as a community to educate elected leaders and secure greater government research funding. If you woud like to learn more about the COPD Foundation you can follow them on FaceBook and help them build a national community.

The areas I have highlighted are just a few of the many and wonderful things the COPD Foundation is doing to raise awareness and help increase diagnoses. Afterall, an important part of pressuring researchers and pharmaceutical companies to develop treatment is to show just how rampant the disease is. I encourage you to share your story and your struggle with COPD, maybe it isnt even your story but that of a loved one. As Health Activists it is our job to help COPD gain recogniion and publicity seeing as it kills more people per year than breast cancer and diabetes combined.