Ivy Mohali organized Health talk to mark World COPD day
KS Diwan/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
To mark World COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) Day, Ivy Hospital, Mohali organized a health talk today.
In talk, Dr. Suresh Goyal Senior Consultant-Pulmonary, Allergy and Sleep Medicine gave tips on how to deal with this chronic life threatening disease.
He said that in India about 5.5 Lakh people die of this disease. COPD is preventable and treatable disease but no permanent cure is available.
It is mainly caused by smoking bidi, cigarette chewing tobacco besides air pollution caused due to burning of cow dung for cooking and heating purposes, he remarked.
The smokers’ life is shortened by 10-yr as compare to non-smoker. Each cigarette decreases life by 11-minute. One puff of smoke contain 7000 chemicals and 69 types of cancer causing substances maintained Dr Goyal.
Smoking not only causes lung cancer but it also leads to cancers of mouth, throat, stomach, kidney and urinary bladder, he said.
Dr. Goyal emphasized that half of the patients are not aware that they are suffering from COPD as they ignore cough and breathlessness as simple smoker cough and breathlessness as aging changes.
He also elaborated the benefits of inhalers in the treatment of asthma and COPD during talk.
Meanwhile a free spirometry camp is being organized on every 2nd and 4th Friday for the early diagnosis of asthma and COPD at Ivy Hospital.