Public response to anti-smoking campaign calls for testing availability

German pharmaceuticals and chemicals manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim, has said that GPs and respiratory units nationwide have been inundated with requests for spirometry testing following the Irish Thoracic Society's recent Ash Wednesday campaign.

The campaign highlighted the classic symptoms of COPD (Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease), encouraging people showing any of the symptoms to have their lungs tested using spirometry.

The company says that the large response to the campaign is good news, demonstrating that awareness levels of COPD amongst the general population are on the increase.

It said that COPD affects over 110,000 people in Ireland accounting for almost 10,000 hospital admissions in a year, and is the second largest cause of respiratory death, leading to almost a quarter of deaths in Ireland.

The predominant cause of COPD is cigarette smoking, with the majority of sufferers are over the age of 60, many people in their 40s have a mild form.

Smoking cessation is the single most effective way to reduce the risk of developing COPD and stopping its progression.

To coincide with the introduction of the smoking ban in the workplace on Monday March 29, the Irish Thoracic Society is calling on general practices nationwide to organise spirometry testing to continue to reach and impact the widest possible number of people and their families.

Boehringer Ingelheim say that an important benefit of spirometry is being able to diagnose COPD in its earliest stages, long before patients become seriously disabled.

There is a range of medicines available to make breathing easier including bronchodilators to open the airways; steroids to reduce inflammation and the swelling of the airways; antibiotics and oxygen.