The Digest - Volume 6.1

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

It’s always refreshing to start a new year with a clean slate, and a list of goals and objectives based off of a momentum from the last year. We are off to a phenomenal start in 2010, the Year of the Lung. With a broad focus on lung health issues embraced by the leading international respiratory societies and patient advocacy organizations, the community has a tremendous opportunity to join together to generate more awareness on COPD and advocate for COPD on various legislative issues.

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Dividing and Conquering:A Recap on November Awareness and a Look Into the Future

If you ever had doubts about a particular social movement or participating in an activity that a group was putting together, and weren’t sure about their effectiveness, if they really ever actually achieved their goals or even got to doing anything, your doubts would be eliminated if you take a look at what the COPD community did throughout this past November, COPD Awareness Month.

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Comparative Effectiveness Research and Its Effects on COPDers

Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER)—a concept grown out of the idea that comparing different interventions and treatment strategies will inform patients, healthcare providers and decision makers—may be one of the most important steps in the revamping of America’s to-be-determined health care system. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (better known as the Stimulus Package), $1.1 billion was appropriated in spending towards CER. Disease advocates are working to ensure that the research is focused on analyzing and informing clinical practice and not used to restrict access to care or therapeutics.

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The Race to DRIVE4COPD

The race is on! And Danica Patrick is behind the wheel! This month, Danica Patrick and a team of celebrities are joining the community in a campaign called DRIVE4COPD. The COPD Foundation, a founding partner of the national health campaign, is joining with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and other organizations to spread awareness of COPD and find the millions of people who may be at risk for the disease but don’t know it. DRIVE4COPD aspires to put the brakes on America’s fourth leading cause of death by helping people identify COPD symptoms and take action. The campaign’s ultimate goal is to screen 1 million individuals to see if they may be at risk for COPD in 2010.

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Year of the Lung: The Time to Make a Difference

The goal of proclaiming this year, 2010, as the Year of the Lung, is to spread awareness and education about lung health worldwide. Throughout the year, there will be events coordinated by both patient organizations and professional societies. These events are aimed at encouraging and inspiring all members of the community to learn more about COPD and help spread awareness. “The Year of the Lung will give the COPD community a tremendous opportunity to increase the level of awareness and understanding about the impact of COPD in the U.S. as well as the world,” John W. Walsh, president of the COPD Foundation, says. Led by the American Thoracic Society and the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, the campaign is giving organizations worldwide the opportunity to engage in awareness and advocacy activities under the same umbrella, creating a unified effort in the battle against COPD.

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H1N1 Flu Virus: Update

Flu season is well underway, and doctors are saying that although there hasn’t been a flood of hospitalizations due to flu-related illness, everyone—especially those in high-risk groups, such as COPD patients—should get their H1N1 flu vaccine if they haven’t already. “At Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, everybody’s been seeing a slowdown in November and December,” says Dr. Jack H. Turco, the Director of the Dartmouth College Health Service in Hanover, NH and a specialist in endocrinology at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. “I think everyone in the U.S. has been seeing a decrease in the amount of outbreak, but some parts of the country are still having a consistent amount of cases.”

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The New Grace Anne Dorney Pulmonary Rehab Center

In January, Grace Anne Dorney Koppel and her husband Ted Koppel cut the white ribbon enlacing the glass doors of St. Mary’s Hospital’s new cardiopulmonary rehabilitation facility. This momentous occasion for the Koppels marked the beginning of their journey to spreading awareness and assistance for communities around the nation in need for a pulmonary rehab program. St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, MD is the first and only pulmonary rehab program within a 35-mile radius, according to Joan Gelrud, RN, Vice President of St. Mary’s Hospital. The hospital is offering a critical resource to the community, especially to those who were on the waiting list for the program to start. Equipped with the latest exercise machines, health care professionals (including respiratory therapists, nurses and physicians) will be part of the staff to help many individuals improve their health and take control of their life. In addition, a Better Breathers Club support group will soon begin meeting at the hospital.

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Rememberting Pioneer, Advocate Dr. Tom Petty

Dr. Tom Petty, a pulmonologist and a leader in home oxygen therapy, died on December 12th, 2009 in his home in Denver, Colorado. He was 76 years old. "Tom was not only a true pioneer in pulmonary medicine and a founding member of the COPD Foundation Board of Directors, he was a good friend to all of us with COPD,” John W. Walsh, President of the COPD Foundation says. “He has been a true inspiration to us all, and had been courageous in fighting his own battle with COPD. He will be dearly missed, but he’s charted the course for us all to follow in order to improve the quality of life with individuals with COPD.” Petty, known as the “father” of home oxygen therapy, was also a Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences in Denver and at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. He was also a Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver.

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Translating Science into a Better Life

Rob Stockley, MD speaks at the COPD Biomarkers Workshop in Bethesda, MD If you are affected by COPD you may often find yourself wondering about what is being done by doctors, researchers and organizations (like ours) that will help improve your quality of life. You hear often of millions of dollars spent on research but get frustrated that it still takes so long for any benefit of that research to translate into something that can help you directly. The Foundation’s core mission is to improve the quality of life for the millions touched in one way or another by COPD and that is why we are excited to announce that we will be holding the COPD Biomarker Qualification Workshop on January 27th and 28th in Bethesda, MD.

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