LAHORE: Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and increases the risk of developing lungs cancer, heart disease and other such fatal diseases.

The COPD kills one person every 10 seconds on an average and the death rate is increased about 10-fold for each 15 cigarettes smoked daily and regularly in the past, said chest specialists and pulmonologists at a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the COPD awareness month in Pakistan.

Dr Ashraf Jamal, Punjab president of Pakistan Chest Society, said smoking cigarettes from adolescence to adulthood cost on average 10 years of life.

“In Pakistan, 18.7 percent of smoking and breathlessness alone is the most frequently reported symptom of the COPD,” he said.

Quoting World Health Organization (WHO) estimates for 2030, Dr Jamal said the COPD had been predicted to become the third leading cause of death killing over 4.5 million people worldwide.

Calling the COPD a “man-made” disease, he said that many cases of the disease could be preventable by avoidance or early cessation of smoking. “It is important that countries adopt the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and implement the MPOWER package of measures,” said Dr Jamal.

Dr Javed Magsi, the head of Lahore General Hospital’s Pulmonology Department, said long-term exposure to other lung irritants like air pollution, chemical fumes or dust also contributes to the COPD.

Dr Kamran Khalid Cheema, the head of Services Hospital’s Pulmonology Department, said the COPD “develops slowly and usually becomes apparent after 40 or 50 years of age. It is not curable, but treatment can relieve symptoms, improve quality of life and reduce the risk of death”.

“In Pakistan, the prevalence rate of the COPD related symptoms is 18.5 percent and COPD patients with co–morbidity are 26.7 percent, while 76.7 percent of the COPD patients experience exacerbation,” said Dr Cheema.

Dr Tariq Mahmood Mian, the president of Family Physicians of Pakistan, said that smoking cessation was essential to treat the COPD. Appropriate pharmacological therapy can reduce COPD symptoms and reduce the frequency of severity of exacerbation and severity of exacerbation and improve overall health status and exercise tolerance.

Jinnah Hospital’s Dr Sobia said that women smokers were more prone to the COPD than men who smoke tobacco.

Published in Dawn December 15th, 2016