COPD: Fourth Leading Cause Of Death In US

COPD affects one in four Americans over age 45

WHAT: COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and is expected to be the third leading cause of death by 2020. An estimated 12 million Americans are diagnosed with COPD and an additional 12 million are believed to have the disease, but are not yet diagnosed.

In conjunction with the launch of a new national awareness and education campaign on COPD, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the COPD community, is sponsoring a panel discussion to highlight the problem of COPD and provide an update on current research and future treatments. Patient advocates, leading physicians, and scientists will discuss the growing burden COPD places on the individual, the family and society and how the science has informed the art of caring for the whole patient with COPD. Following brief remarks on COPD and the campaign, there will be a question and answer session with the speakers.

WHO: Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI

James Kiley, PhD., Director, Division of Lung Diseases, NHLBI
Grace Anne Dorney, COPD Patient

Scientific Presenters

A. Sonia Buist, M.D., Oregon Health Sciences University
Bartolome Celli, M.D., St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Tufts University, Boston
Ronald Crystal, M.D., Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Campaign Partners

Robert Pallay, MD, Board Member, American Academy of Family Physicians
David Ingbar, MD, President-elect, American Thoracic Society
Terri Weaver, PhD, Board Chair, American Lung Association
Mark Rosen, MD, President, American College of Chest Physicians

WHEN: January 18, 2007

WHERE: Holeman Lounge, National Press Club

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For more information about the COPD campaign, please visit,
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/lung/copd/index.htm.

Contact: NHLBI Communications Office
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute