Lung disease goes undiagnosed in many smokers
By
Eric Barnes, AuntMinnie.com staff writer
June 22, 2015 -- More than half of long-term smokers who pass lung-function tests are actually living with lung disease that remains undiagnosed, according to a study published online Monday in
JAMA Internal Medicine.
The large study included nearly 9,000 people who had smoked at least a pack a day for 10 years; approximately half of the participants had negative lung-function tests. Despite their negative status, 55% of this group was found to have some type of impairment upon further testing (
JAMA IM, June 22, 2015).
"The impact of chronic smoking on the lungs and the individual is substantially underestimated when using lung-function tests alone," senior author Dr. James Crapo, from National Jewish Health in Denver, said in a statement. "Lung disease is common in smokers whose lung-function tests fall within population norms."
...
Specifically, Crapo and colleagues reported the following:
- 42% had emphysema or airway thickening at CT
- 23% had shortness of breath
- 15% walked less than 350 meters in six minutes
The "disease-free" smokers also had substantially lower quality of life than individuals who had never smoked.
The authors said they hope the findings debunk the myth of the healthy long-term smoker and emphasize the importance of smoking cessation.
