World's leading doctors race to keep Scots ahead of fastest growing killer disease

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 04 Sep 2004 - 11:00 PDT

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Leading doctors from around the world will be coming together in Glasgow this weekend to participate in a 5 kilometre sponsored run to raise money for Scottish lung disease patients at the European Respiratory Society's (ERS) annual meeting.

-- Scots have the highest death rate in the UK for COPD.1

-- Approximately one person dies in Scotland every two hours due to the disease.1
-- Olympians and doctors from around the world are running in Glasgow to support the estimated 33,948 Scots who live with COPD.1

The British Lung Foundation's (BLF) 'Lung Run', sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, aims to help patients living with lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) - the fastest growing killer disease in Scotland, which claims 4,629 lives each year.1

Doctors from countries as far a field as New Zealand, America, Norway, Lithuania and Russia will be running to help raise awareness of this little known disease. The BLF hope to raise £20,000 to help the half a million Scots affected by lung disease.

Andrew Powrie-Smith, Head of the BLF Scotland commented, "The Lung Run is a great way of raising money to tackle lung disease which affects one million Scots. COPD is the only cause of major cause of death that is increasing in the UK and death rates for both men and women in Scotland from COPD are higher than in England and Wales."

Scottish Olympic athlete, Lee McConnell, is encouraging people to join her in supporting the initiative for the British Lung Foundation Scotland. Ms McConnell said, "In the time it takes for most people to run the 5K Lung Run, someone in Scotland will die from lung disease. By taking part and supporting the BLF Scotland you can join us in helping to care for the nearly one million Scots living with lung disease."

The most common cause of COPD is cigarette smoking and research has suggested that as many as 50% of all smokers may develop the disease.2 The Lung Run follows the recent message of support from the First Minister, Jack McConnell, who praised the Irish Government's decision to ban smoking in public places. The BLF Scotland has called for the Scottish Executive to follow Ireland's example and implement a similar ban.

Dr Saulius Viliunas from Lithuania said, "This disease is an international problem that brings misery to people across the world. Encouraging people to run will not only help protect their own lungs but will also help people facing disability and death from COPD. With Scotland's record in lung disease it is fitting that the best respiratory minds should be coming together here in Glasgow to raise awareness of the seriousness of the condition."

COPD is a common disorder in which lung damage over a period of time impairs the flow of air in and out of the lungs. COPD is an umbrella term for a number of conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, all of which make it harder to breathe.

Exacerbations represent a major risk for COPD patients with around one in eight being admitted to hospital with an exacerbation;3 and of those almost half may die within a year.4 There is a need for more effective treatment and management of COPD exacerbations in order to reduce hospitalisation and death.

Each year COPD costs:

-- NHS Scotland £138 million to manage.1

-- Between £253 million and £466 million in lost working days.1

For more information, please contact:

Catherine Hartley / Gareth Field
Ketchum (on behalf of the British Lung Foundation Scotland)
catherine.hartley@ketchum.com / gareth.field@ketchum.com
(020) 7611 3607 / (020) 7611 3668

Notes to editors:

The 5k Lung Run, organised by the British Lung Foundation Scotland, is taking place at 9.00am on Sunday 5th September 2004 in Glasgow.

To take part, email redballoon@blfscotland.org.uk for further details.

British Lung Foundation British Lung Foundation is the only UK charity working for people with every kind of lung disease. Lung Disease is the second biggest killer in the UK killing nearly 3,000 people every week. The charity provides information, offers support through its local groups and funds research into all lung diseases. http://www.lunguk.org