November is COPD Awareness Month
Help to increase awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease this year by getting involved. Here's just a few things that are happening up and down the country!
What is COPD?
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) describes a group of lung conditions that make it difficult to empty air out of the lungs because your airways have been narrowed. Two of these lung conditions are persistent bronchitis and emphysema, which can also occur together. This makes it harder to move air in and out as you breathe, and your lungs are less able to take in oxygen and struggle to get rid of carbon dioxide.
An estimated 1.2 million people in the U.K. are living with the diagnosis, making COPD the second most common lung disease after asthma. Around 2% of the whole population – 4.5% of all people aged over 40 – live with diagnosed COPD. You can read much more about prevalence, causes, diagnosis and treatment at https://www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/copd
According to World Health Organisation estimates, 65 million people have moderate to severe COPD and In 2002 COPD was the fifth leading cause of death. Total deaths from COPD are projected to rise unless urgent action is taken. Estimates show that COPD could become in 2030 the third leading cause of death.
World COPD Day
World COPD Day is organised by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) together with health care professionals and COPD patient groups throughout the world. Its aim is to raise awareness about COPD and improve COPD care throughout the world. Each year organisers in more than 50 countries carry out activities making the day one of the worlds most important COPD awareness and education events. You can find out more about GOLD here: https://goldcopd.org/world-copd-day/
This year, World COPD Day is Wednesday 21st November.
Up and down the country, to help mark the day and with the help of The British Lung Foundation, Breathe Easy group members will share their experiences of living with COPD in local press, on Twitter and Facebook. They’ll talk about their symptoms, and help to promote the British Lung Foundations online breath test and COPD patient passport.
There’s increasing evidence that singing regularly as part of group, can help physically, psychologically and socially. Now the government has recognised this and will invest nearly £4.5m in programmes to refer patients to local voluntary and community services such as walking clubs, dance classes, gardening, arts activities or books and reading well. There will also be money for community projects such as creating new community cafés, art spaces or gardens. This is known as Social Prescribing. There has never been a better time to get involved with groups such as the Wigan & Leigh Warblers.
Breathe Easy Nottingham's Charity Single
Breathe Easy members in Nottingham have recorded their own version of Bill Withers’ classic Lean On Me as a downloadable charity single in aid of BLF. The single is still available and all proceeds will go to fund BLF research.
The BLF Big Breakfast
November has also seen the return of the BLF Big Breakfast - A chance to get together with friends, family or colleagues and enjoy some tasty treats to raise much needed cash for research and support. Whether you hold a brilliant brekkie or a beautiful brunch, why not kick start your day with a Big Breakfast? To find out more and request a fundraising pack contact the BLF here blf.org.uk/big-breakfast
This is just a sample of events that are happening up and down the country.
We were once asked by a friend of ours, Russell Winwood, what we'll be doing for World COPD day and asked to make some noise! This blog post will be emailed to everyone that orders from us over the next week and retweeted many times. It’s not much but it’s a start. Why don’t you explore the links further and see if you can get involved too.
