Could you have COPD, and be so unaware of it that you were not diagnosed until it was in its last stages? The answer is startling and sad. Researchers have recently proven statistically that “in up to 85 per cent of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (COPD) the underlying disease was being overlooked.”

Research scientists at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry recently conducted a 20-year study of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD. The Florida Lung Asthma & Sleep Study Specialists want our patients, friends and blog readers to know that this study published some significant results.

What Is COPD?

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute defines COPD as “a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe.  Progressive means the disease gets worse over time.”

It is notoriously difficult to diagnose, and the above mentioned researchers found that “missed opportunities occur commonly in both primary and secondary care.” At this point, if you are interested in knowing a more detailed description of COPD, we invite you to click at our own previously published source.

The Study: How We Know COPD Has Been Missed or Misdiagnosed

  • Let’s look at the procedure used by the Plymouth University Researchers:
  • Number of patients in the study: 38,849
  • Ages of patients in the study: 40 or older
  • Diagnosis: COPD diagnosed between 1990 and 2009
  • Patient Data: Each patient’s data for at least two years before and one year after was available and studied.

Dr. Rupert Jones, Clinical Research Fellow at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry is both the leader of the study, and a working general practitioner in Plymouth.

He stated, “We became acutely aware that many people were being diagnosed with COPD, a progressive and disabling lung disease, at a late stage when the damage done was severe and irreversible. Thus we wanted to examine the opportunities arising in primary care in order to diagnose COPD at an earlier stage and improve health outcomes, with potential to extend life expectancy and quality of life for patients.”

What Dr. Jones and his team discovered was that, within five years before diagnosis 85% of patients “had visited their GP at least once with lower respiratory symptoms without the diagnosis of COPD being made.”

They assessed whether a diagnosis of COPD could have been made in an earlier visit to a doctor, whether in a primary or secondary care setting.

We repeat, results showed that in the five years before diagnosis, 85 per cent of patients could or should have been diagnosed!

Number of Opportunities When Diagnosis Should Have Been Made:

1.   In 58 per cent of the patients, in the six to ten years before diagnosis, there were missed opportunities for the COPD diagnosis.

2.  42 per cent of the patients could have actually been diagnosed in the 11 to 15 years previous to their diagnosis.

3.  Over the 20 year period, the patients had increasing numbers of chest X-rays, but only one third of them were administered a spirometry test. This test is simple, painless and inexpensive. Check it out in one of our previous blogs.  Find out more about this simple, but life-saving test.  Watch this blog for notices of special spirometry days, such as “Open House,” when you can take the test without a fee.

Dr. Jones declared, “We believe that the results of our study provide clear support to the argument for improved identification and diagnosis of COPD in general practice, with greater awareness so that early opportunities to diagnose — such as presentation with lower respiratory tract symptoms or related conditions — are seized and acted upon.”

Considering the results of this research, the Florida Lung Doctors feel that you should become more vitally interested in the signs and symptoms of this disease.

Take our COPD Quiz by clicking at this source, and please, make certain you talk to your doctor about such symptoms as wheezing and shortness of breath, and especially if you are a current or reformed smoker.

Finding and treating this disease early in its progress could make a huge difference in the quality and length of your life!