Originally published December 3 2005
Canadian groups find lung disease is three times more common than believed
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Canadian Thoracic Society, with the Lung Association, has released a survey that shows inflamed and damaged lungs are three times more prevalent than was previously recognized in a study made by Statistics Canada in 2000.
Three times as many Canadians as once thought are living with inflamed and damaged lungs, a legacy from smoking that few doctors are treating properly, a new study shows.
Eight per cent of 2,568 Canadians surveyed between Sept. 1 and Oct. 7 as part of a study released yesterday said they had been diagnosed with COPD, bronchitis or emphysema.
By contrast, Statistics Canada had estimated there were 714,000 diagnosed patients in Canada in 2000, about 2.3 per cent of the adult population.
"And of course (the new study) fails to take into account the number of people who may have the disease and have not been diagnosed," said Vicki Bryanton of the Lung Association.
Only one-quarter of 252 doctors surveyed were familiar with guidelines on how best to treat the lung disease, and only seven per cent said they follow the guidelines all the time.
The group released a report yesterday with the Lung Association that found significant gaps across the country in the way COPD is being managed, with some patients not getting the drugs they need and only 1.2 per cent getting access to rehab programs proven to help relieve shortness of breath and improve quality of life.
The highest rate of hospitalization for COPD (2,625 per 100,000) was in the Northwest Territories, where 33 per cent of the population smokes, followed by New Brunswick, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
The study, which included a survey of 130 patients with the pulmonary disorder, found discrimination is high: In Ontario and Quebec, 13 per cent of doctors said they discriminated against smokers in terms of the quality of care they provided, and 24 per cent of patients in B.C. said they were discriminated against because of their smoking.
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