Coughing and Shortness of Breath Are Signs of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Due to Be Third Leading Cause of Death Worldwide by 2030 - WHO
UAE MoH Licenses New Once-Daily Inhaler for COPD
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: UAE respiratory doctors are urging smokers who cough daily for more than two weeks to seek medical advice and a lung function test to check if they have signs of the smoking-related respiratory disease known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
The warning was issued by the President of the Emirates Allergy and Respiratory Society (EARS) ahead of a medical meeting this weekend to discuss new trends in the treatment of COPD, which can cause severe breathlessness that prevents people from carrying out daily activities of living, such as dressing, washing and walking.
Predictions by the World Health Organization say COPD will be the third leading cause of death globally by 2030, behind heart disease and stroke. Globally prevalence of COPD currently sits at between four and six percent and about 80 percent of cases are linked to cigarette smoking (1) - with similar dangers linked to other inhaled irritants such as smoking shisha.
"Any smoker who is coughing daily for more than two weeks should not ignore it, they need to go to a respiratory clinic and undergo a lung function test to find out if they are suffering from COPD," said Dr. Mirza A. Al Sayegh, President of the EARS, which is part of the Emirates Medical Association.
"Currently in the UAE there is under diagnosis of COPD and we need to make people aware that having a long-term cough is a symptom that requires investigation, sometimes COPD is misdiagnosed as asthma but a lung function test prevents this problem," he added.
This weekend's series of medical symposia taking place in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain will discuss new practice and advances in managing COPD, including the latest medications, such as a new once-daily bronchodilator inhaler which has been recently licensed for use in the UAE by the Ministry of Health.
UAE MoH has licensed Onbrez Breezhaler® (indacaterol), the first once-daily long-acting beta2- adrenergic agonist bronchodilator, due to its 24 hour duration of action. Its effect on typical COPD symptoms, such as cough and shortness of breath, are superior to currently available beta2-agonists with a duration of action of only 12 hours, Bronchodilators are the corner stone of COPD treatment and are recommended as first line treatment in international COPD guidelines.
Such medications in particular help patients who up to now had to take their aerosol medications several times throughout the day to be compliant with their prescribed drug regimens, according to an international respiratory expert who will address the UAE doctors' meetings on 2-3 June.
"A major problem with COPD treatment is failure with medication compliance, patients do not follow treatment recommendations the more often they have to use their inhalers - often the only thing that makes them remember is when they become short of breath or start coughing," explained Professor Roland Buhl, Professor of Medicine and Head of the Pulmonary Department at Mainz University Hospital, Germany.
"Having a once daily inhaler makes life easier for patients; they can take it at the same time every day, such as when they are brushing their teeth, which makes it easier for them to remember. It is always better to prevent symptoms rather than to wait until they interfere with your activities. It also gives people more privacy about their disease as they no longer have to use their inhaler throughout the day, such as at work," he added.
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Research:
[1] World Health Organization, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Burden: http://www.who.int/respiratory/copd/burden/en/
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