Grandmother rails at main cause of chronic disease
Quit before it’s too late.
That’s the message Diane Fellowes wants to get across to smokers and she is warning others against ever taking up the habit.
The Mt Albert grandmother suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) after decades of smoking.
The progressive lung disease causes frequent breathlessness, coughing and results in irreparable lung damage once established.
Smoking is the leading cause of the chronic illness.
Fellowes now spends 16 hours a day attached to an oxygen cylinder and struggles to do simple household chores like vacuuming.
The 66-year-old noticed she was short of breath four years before she was diagnosed.
‘‘When I was about 54 I admitted defeat – I just couldn’t breathe.
‘‘I had been carrying on and hoping that the next day when I woke up it would be all gone but at some point you have to give in.’’
COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in New Zealand, affecting about one in 10 adults and as many as one in four smokers.
But the signs are often missed, Auckland City Hospital Respiratory Specialist Dr Robert Young says.
‘‘Many people with COPD attribute their early symptoms of exercise-related breathlessness to just getting older.’’
Fellowes took up smoking as a teenager and continued most of her adult life.
‘‘I see people smoking and I get a bit angry to be honest.
‘‘I feel like saying: ‘Look at what could happen to you – what’s happened to me’.’’
COPD can also be caused by smoking cannabis, passive smoking and long-term exposure to irritants in the home or workplace.
Asthma New Zealand is urging people to be aware of the dangers, quit smoking and get tested, particularly this month as World COPD Day is recognised on November 19.
Executive director Linda Thompson is calling on employers to ensure industrial workplaces are wellventilated and provide quitsmoking programmes to help fight the disease.
‘‘Those who are employed in dusty work environments, such as mechanics, builders and bakers, could have an increased risk of developing COPD.
‘‘Prolonged exposure to harmful substances at work, for example coal dust, silica dust and welding fumes is also a contributing factor.’’
Thompson says COPD is a particular concern within Maori and Pacific Island communities.
‘‘As a society we need to do more work in raising awareness across these ethnicities to lower the mortality from this preventable disease.’’