Vietnam highest number of respiratory patients in region: expert

[Snowy Owl]

Vietnam highest number of respiratory patients in region: expert
http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=25950

Vietnam has the highest number of people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPDs) within the Asian-Pacific region, heard a seminar on the topic held in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday.

The Chairman of the Global Asthma and COPDs Prevention Organization Scientific Council, Dr. Suzanne Hurd told the seminar that 6.7 percent of the Vietnamese population or four million people suffer from COPDs, and 3,000 die of asthma per year.​

COPDs are a group of respiratory diseases characterized by the limitation of airway flow that is not fully reversible. The acronym is often used as an umbrella term for chronic bronchitis, emphysema and a range of other disorders.

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Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of COPDs.

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Most with these kinds of respiratory diseases are smokers or former smokers.


Breathing in other kinds of lung irritants, like pollution, dust, or chemicals, over a long period of time may also cause or contribute to respiratory diseases.

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COPDs develop slowly, and it may be many years before symptoms like shortness of breath manifest. Most of the time, COPDs are diagnosed in middle-aged or older people.

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The diseases are a major cause of death and illness, currently the fourth leading cause of death around the world.

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Reported by Thanh Tung ? Translated by Luu Thi Hong​