Over 16 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD and another 16 millions have COPD but don’t know it (have not been diagnosed). This means that over 32 million Americans suffer from COPD!
COPD is a Serious Problem Health Problem
COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the US.
In a recent survey, 7 out of 10 smokers could not identify COPD as a top-five killer.
In 2002, about 125,000 people died of COPD.
While other chronic health diseases such as heart disease and diabetes have decreased in the past 20 years, COPD rates have steadily increased.
In a recent survey 66% of Americans did not know that COPD kills more women than men.
COPD will continue to be a major health problem in the future. By, 2020, COPD will become the third leading cause of death in the United States.
COPD Does Not Sexually Discriminate
Women who smoke are more susceptible to developing COPD than are men.
Women may develop COPD at an earlier age and with less duration or intensity of smoking
U.S. women had more COPD hospitalizations (404,000) than men (322,000) and also had more emergency department visits (898,000) than men (551,000) in 2000.
66% of Americans did not know that COPD kills more woman than men.
