Web(August 18, 2017): Two major chronic lung diseases — asthma and COPD — kill nearly 4 million people worldwide annually, a new report finds.
The study calculates that 3.2 million people died in 2015 from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) a group of lung conditions that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, often tied to smoking. Asthma caused another 400,000 deaths, the report found.
While asthma is more common, COPD is much more deadly. And while both conditions can be treated, many people remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
“Although much of the burden from these illnesses is either preventable or treatable with affordable interventions, these diseases have received less attention than other prominent non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer or diabetes,” said Theo Vos.
Smoking and air pollution are the leading causes of COPD, the study authors noted. The causes of asthma are less certain but are thought to include allergens and smoking.
The use of these cooking fuels “is one of the greatest causes of air pollution,” he said. “Nowadays, more than half of the world’s population uses biomass fuel as a primary cooking source, resulting in a high burden of morbidity and mortality.
Interventions aimed at replacing smoke-generating cook stoves with cheap, cleaner-burning devices would go a long way toward cutting the burden of asthma and COPD worldwide, Schayck said.
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