Advertisement
The American Lung Association publishes Lung Disease Data to serve as a resource to the public, media, healthcare professionals, researchers and lung disease patients and their caregivers on the latest trends and research in lung disease, along with relevant facts and figures about some of the most common lung diseases in the United States today.
Advertisement
Lung disease is any disease or disorder where lung function is impaired. Lung diseases can be caused by long-term and immediate exposure to smoking, secondhand smoke, air pollution, occupational hazards such as asbestos and silica dust, carcinogens that trigger tumor growth, infectious agents, and over reactive immune defenses.
"Every year, about 400,000 Americans die from lung disease," said Bernadette Toomey, President and CEO of the American Lung Association. "With our report, Lung Disease Data, we hope to provide valuable information on lung disease to the public, especially to people who become ill and their family members who are caring for them," she continued.
There are many types of lung diseases, including:
The American Lung Association strongly believes that if cigarette smoking, preventable premature childbirth, disregard for workers' safety and violation of clean-air laws were to end today, a future largely free of the most lethal forms of lung disease would be possible.
The American Lung Association urges Congress to pass the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and to fund a COPD program at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The Lung Association is actively working to pass comprehensive smokefree laws across the country to eliminate people's exposure to secondhand smoke, as well as to encourage the federal and state governments to pass policies to increase cessation services for the over 45 million U.S. adult smokers.
"As our nation wrestles with how to pay for increasing health care costs, we must look at the tremendous financial burden caused by tobacco in this nation," Toomey added. "Tobacco use costs the United States an estimated $193 billion annually, including $96 billion in direct health care expenditures."
To download the full report, please visit www.lungusa.org and visit the research section. For questions, please contact Carrie Martin at [email protected].
About the American Lung Association: Beginning our second century, the American Lung Association is the leading organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. Lung disease death rates are currently increasing while other major causes of death are declining. The American Lung Association funds vital research on the causes of and treatments for lung disease. With the generous support of the public, the American Lung Association is "Improving life, one breath at a time." For more information about the American Lung Association or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or log on to www.lungusa.org.
-- Obstructive lung diseases such as asthma and COPD which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. These all affect a person's airways and limit or block the flow of air in or out of the lungs.
SOURCE American Lung Association
