Report exposes grim reality of lung illness

By REBECCA WALSH, health reporter

Decades of tobacco smoking are catching up with thousands of New Zealanders who now suffer a lung disease estimated to cost close to $190 million a year to treat.

A report on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) estimates that at least 200,000 New Zealanders aged over 45 are affected but only one in five has been diagnosed.

The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation and the Thoracic Society of Australia and NZ, which commissioned the report, say the impact of the disease has been hugely underestimated and it needs to be made a health priority.

They want annual checks for smokers over 35 and a public awareness campaign to highlight the problem.

COPD is a serious respiratory condition that develops primarily as a result of tobacco smoking.

It includes conditions such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

People with the disease become progressively short of breath and in severe cases find it difficult to do simple things such as dressing themselves.

The disease is the fourth leading cause of death after cancer, heart disease and stroke. Hospital admission data shows it is twice as common in Maori as non-Maori.

Professor Ian Town, director of the foundation, said the disease was becoming more prevalent as a result of the surge in smoking during the 1930s and 1940s. Preliminary figures showed more women were now affected.

Often people went undiagnosed or sought help only after years of suffering from breathlessness and coughing with phlegm. Many assumed it was simply a change associated with age.

Professor Town said if people were "short of puff" they should see their GP and have a spirometry breathing test. It was also vital they stopped smoking.

"Supporting them to become smokefree is still the most important thing to do as it reduces the rate at which they deteriorate."

The report estimated the disease cost between $102 million and $192 million a year, including about $80 million in hospital costs and other costs such as GP visits and prescriptions.

Professor Town described the figures as conservative and said it was difficult to be precise because of the number of people who went undiagnosed and because the disease affected older people who often suffered from multiple conditions.

COPD is often associated with heart disease, increased risk of heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and pneumonia.

Professor Town said district health boards needed to recognise that investment in smoking prevention and quitting programmes was cost-effective in the long term.

Dr Henry Doerr, the College of GPs representative on the National Respiratory Council, said doctors worked hard to educate people about the dangers of smoking but greater public awareness of its link with chronic lung disease was needed.

Killer disease

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD):

* Kills an estimated 2.9 million people a year worldwide.

* Is expected to put 14,700 New Zealanders in hospital by 2012.

* Affects about 15 per cent of smokers.

* Is almost entirely preventable by not smoking.