This week, Dr. Maria Santos-Martinez discussed tobacco addiction and evidence-based smoking cessation strategies with our 5th year pharmacy students, highlighting the important role pharmacists play in supporting patients on their journey to quit smoking.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a disease that causes the airways in a person's lungs to get smaller. It makes it harder for the person to breathe and can result in shortness of breath or tiredness. People may commonly know of the disease as chronic bronchitis, emphysema or a combination of both conditions.
More than 380,000 people in Ireland have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), yet 270,000 of these are unaware that they may have this serious and progressive lung condition. Sadly an average of 1,500 die of the disease each year, while over 15,000 patients are hospitalised. Ireland has the highest rate of hospital admissions out of the 38 countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Risk factors include smoking, air pollution, and occupational dust.
Know the signs 👇
📝 A is for those Age 35 and over
📝 B is for ongoing Breathlessness
📝 C is for a Cough that won’t go away, with or without phlegm
For more information, please link on this link for COPD Support Ireland.