Constant chest issues? You could have undiagnosed lung disease

Mary Ely knew something was wrong. After suffering for years from sinus infections, she’d had an operation but her breathing seemed to be getting worse, not better.

The 57-year-old from Tipperary was also losing weight, so much so that people were starting to notice.

‘After the operation I seemed to be coming down with a lot of infections and when I was going walking I found I was getting breathless,’ Mary explains. ‘I felt very tired as well and I lost about a stone and a half which I really didn’t need to lose and people were beginning to ask me if I was unwell.’

Mary was given antibiotics by her GP but was later sent to hospital. After a variety of tests it was discovered that she had bronchiectasis, a lung disease that is a symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

There are around half a million people in Ireland with the condition, but experts say unlike Mary, many are undiagnosed and not getting the right treatment.

Professor JJ Gilmartin, a consultant in respiratory medicine at University Hospital Galway, says more people need to be made aware of the condition.

‘We have approximately half a million people in Ireland with COPD and half of these are not diagnosed. Most of these don’t know that they have it at all — they think they are just chesty. Of those who have it, a lot of them don’t have proper access to services which can improve their quality of life.’

COPD is caused by smoking, the result of inhalation of dust or chemicals, or exposure to indoor or outdoor pollution, including fumes in the workplace over an extended period of time.

Some people with an existing illness such as chronic asthma may be more prone to developing COPD, while others may be pre-disposed to it due to a hereditary lung condition known as Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Professor Gilmartin is one of a number of experts taking part in Let’s Get Moving On COPD, a conference taking place in Dublin on November 15 which aims to highlight new research and treatments for sufferers and their families.

‘Probably the most important thing that has happened in the management of chronic lung disease and especially for COPD is the development of pulmonary rehabilitation,’ Professor Gilmartin says.

‘Patients are assessed and treatment includes two sessions of physical training a week for six weeks to get them up to a level where they are functioning pretty well for that person.

‘The problem is when the patient is at home and doesn’t have any encouragement to continue the exercise and that is where COPD support groups come in. If people attend these at least once a week then they can do their exercise there and then at home.’

For Mary, exercise has proved vital to managing her condition.

‘I have had to give up work but I do what I can and I find the support groups are very good. We have a nutritionist and also we do exercises for both our breathing and fitness which we can then do at home too,’ she says.

‘One of the things we are trying to get across is self management so that the patient is aware of when things are going wrong and they know how to manage it,’ Professor Gilmartin says.

O WORLD COPD Day falls on November 21 and the conference takes place on November 15 at the Royal College of Physicians, Dublin. See copd.ie.