“Let’s see what you know about your lungs…” is the central message of the information campaign carried out by the Hellenic Pulmonology Society (HPE) for World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness among citizens and especially smokers regarding the disease, which for many years, usually over 10-15, develops silently, causing mild discomfort, without giving alarming warning symptoms.

EPE, as part of the campaign, has planned on November 19, 2024 at Athens Metro Mall in Athens (16:00-20:30) and at Mediterranean Cosmos in Thessaloniki (17:00-20:30), with the cooperation of the Company of Thoracic Diseases of Greece (ENTHE).

Posters will also be posted and information brochures will be distributed in five Pulmonary Clinics throughout Greece, specifically in Alexandroupolis, Heraklion, Ioannina, Larissa and Patras. In addition, the pulmonologists who participate in the Working Group (WG) of the EPE for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Nikos Tzanakis (coordinator), Andriana Papaioannou, Paschalis Steiropoulos (responsible), and Electra Voulgareli (Early Career Member), provide answers regarding the disease in matters of prevention, treatment, daily management, with short videos that will be shown on the Hellenic Pulmonology Society’s facebook page.

COPD is a heterogeneous “condition” of the lungs. It is characterized by chronic symptoms of the respiratory system (dyspnea, cough, expectoration, exacerbations) due to disorders of the airways (bronchitis, bronchiolitis) and/or alveoli (emphysema) and cause persistent, often progressive, airflow limitation. COPD is a modern ongoing pandemic with the most frequent risk factor being smoking and every year it leads to the death of 3,000,000 patients worldwide. The incidence of the disease continues to increase, with COPD expected to result in approximately 5,400,000 deaths annually from 2060 onwards. In our country, around 500,000 Greeks suffer from COPD and most of them don’t even know it.

Mr. Stelios Loukidis, president of the EPE, professor of Pulmonology, EKPA, referring to the campaign noted: “Our goal through the information campaign, “Let’s see what you know about your lungs”, is to lead citizens in a search process so that they act in time , to visit the pulmonologist and not allow COPD to affect their breathing, their daily life and ultimately their social life”.

Mr. Nikos Tzanakis, professor of Pulmonology at the Medical School of the University of Crete, vice-president of the Hellenic Pulmonology Society and coordinator of the OE of the EPE for COPD, underlines: “COPD is the most common respiratory disease. It is chronic because it develops over many years, affects smokers mainly after the age of 50 and significantly reduces the quality of life of the sufferers. The symptom of shortness of breath is what most limits their quality of life, while early recognition of the disease is of great importance. People who have smoked for more than 10-15 years should visit their pulmonologist and take a spirometry test to determine if they suffer from COPD.”

Important are also the points regarding protection measures and treatment treatments, with Mr. Tzanakis stating: “For those who suffer, there are important pharmaceutical interventions, such as inhaled treatments, but also specific and targeted biological treatments that can to radically treat the disease especially in certain categories of patients. For those suffering from COPD, smoking cessation is required, while at the same time a series of vaccinations are recommended. Although the disease is chronic and affects approximately 5%-10% of the population, we should be optimistic because medicine and especially pulmonology have important answers to its treatment”.

Mr. Paschalis Steiropoulos, head of the OE COPD of the EPE, professor of Pulmonology DFT, director of the Pulmonology Clinic of the PGN Alexandroupolis, points out the importance of the test that establishes the diagnosis of the disease, i.e. the spirometry: “It is a painless procedure in which the examinee exhales quickly and prolonged all the air that can after a maximum inhalation. If the patient cannot exhale more than 70% of the total volume of air in the first second, and has been exposed to risk factors for the disease, then he suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.”

The symptoms that will lead someone to the spirometry test are, according to Mr. Steiropoulos, “cough with or without expectoration (phlegm), shortness of breath which initially appears on exertion and wheezing which worsens or occurs during respiratory infections. People who should be tested are all smokers, workers in areas with dust or other particles as well as those who live in an environment with increased pollution or have a history of frequent respiratory infections during childhood.”

Ms. For her part, Adriana Papaioannou, other responsible for the OE COPD of the EPE, assistant professor of Pulmonology EKPA, First University Pulmonology Clinic GNNTHA “The Salvation”, emphasizes the importance of vaccination:

“Patients with COPD should be vaccinated against influenza every year, while at the same time they should have vaccines related to the prevention of covid 19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), pneumococcal, pertussis and herpes zoster.”

All of the above are part of prevention, which as pointed out by Ms. Papaioannou, “the issue of prevention is extremely important, since many patients with COPD experience events called exacerbations, which are actually a sharp worsening of their symptoms. The causes of exacerbations are usually either viral or microbial.”

The Hellenic Pulmonology Society, focusing on highlighting the importance of pulmonary rehabilitation (non-pharmacological intervention), which has been proven based on international literature to be extremely beneficial for patients with COPD, supports the operation of two pilot programs of pulmonary rehabilitation. The programs are implemented in the municipalities of Thessaloniki and Peristeri and will last 3 months including a limited number of patients. The aim is to inform both the public and the agencies about the beneficial results of the rehabilitation programs, as well as the acquisition of know-how on the part of the municipalities in order to enable the future organization of similar programs in local government agencies.

As explained by Ms. Papaioannou, pulmonary rehabilitation aims to train patients with COPD under the guidance of specialized staff to improve their physical condition and become more active in order to cope with the needs of their daily life. These programs have a significant effect on patients’ symptoms and quality of life, while at the same time reducing the frequency of exacerbations and improving survival. “Unfortunately in our country, these programs are not reimbursed by the health system and the few rehabilitation centers that operate are supported exclusively by the country’s medical schools and university departments of physical education,” he says characteristically.