Half of long-term smokers could get chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
COPD much more common than lung cancer
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Half of all of those who have smoked for decades are likely to come down with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The risk of getting COPD is much greater than that for lung cancer, and the disease can be more debilitating. "You suffer such a long time", says Anne Pietinalho, Secretary-General of the Finnish Lung Health Association (FILHA).
Diagnosis is often delayed, and an ongoing prevention and treatment programme is aimed at identifying those susceptible to the condition at an early stage - after up to ten years of regular smoking. Quitting the habit slows down the progress of pulmonary damage.
"My eyes were shut almost to the very end", admits Kuopio resident Riitta Massinen, who smoked for 40 years before quitting. She had started at the age of 15.
In the final stages she went through two packs a day. Her smoker’s cough got worse, she was constantly fatigued, and easily ran out of breath.
Massinen realised that it was not a case of poor physical condition: she would walk her dog regularly, and occasionally exercise in a gym. "I knew that smoking is dangerous, but I didn’t want to quit".
COPD has proven more common than originally thought. A recent doctoral thesis reveals that 53-66 percent of smokers who consume at least one package of cigarettes a day for 40 years come down with the condition.
"The younger you start, the greater the danger" notes Pentti Tukiainen, head physician at the Helsinki University Central Hospital, and professor at the Medical School of the University of Helsinki. Patients as young as 40 are not unusual.
"It took me a while to have my lungs examined", Massinen says. First she had to stop smoking, because "I didn’t want to answer the question ‘do you plan to quit?’". It took years.
The result came as a surprise. "I wanted information on the condition of my lungs, but not about a serious case of obstructive pulmonary disease", Massinen sighs. She has less than half of her original lung capacity left.
Staff at Finnish public health clinics have been offered a training programme by FILHA and the Pulmonary Association HELI on recognising the condition. Telephone counselling and a website are available to those who want help in stopping smoking.
"Moralistic attitudes are receding with respect to smoking", Pietinalho says. "It is understood that smoking is not a personal choice, but rather a rapidly-progressing addiction that is difficult to shake off."
The number of people with the disease is growing. Smoking is on the decline, but smoking among young women is now as common as it is among men.
Riitta Massinen says that she managed to quit after "looking at death eye to eye". She adopted healthier lifestyles, and the chronic exercise-dodger - "At school we would sneak behind a rock for a smoke when the others went skiing" - started exercising daily: walking, swimming, gym exercises.
Her breathing is still heavy, but she is coughing less and is less fatigued.
"I never understood that my fatigue was caused by smoking. I thought that it was the result of a job involving three alternating shifts."
"This is clearly a self-inflicted disease", Massinen says. "It would be dishonest to explain it any other way. I do not know even now what I have done to myself. I have to deal with my guilt, after having acted against all knowledge and good sense."
Massinen says that she now wants to manage in her everyday life without external help as far as possible. "Work, cleaning, and carrying the groceries are a motivation. I want to do what I can now, since I didn’t do it before."
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 15.11.2006 - TODAY |
 Half of long-term smokers could get chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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