Vic: Lung disease now third commonest cause of death: expert

AAP General News (Australia)
04-09-2000
Vic: Lung disease now third commonest cause of death: expert

A conference in Melbourne today's been told a little-known respiratory disease caused
mainly by smoking is now the third-commonest cause of disability and early death in Australia.

A meeting of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand's heard more than half
a million Australians suffer chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- a lung condition
characterised by breathlessness and a persistent cough.

A respiratory physician at Adelaide's Repatriation General Hospital, Dr PETER FRITH,
says sufferers have the quality of life of people with paraplegia or first-stage AIDS.

He says the disease ranks only behind heart disease and stroke as the most common cause
of disability and early death.

Dr FRITH describes it as a combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema -- and the
main cause, he says, is "almost always" cigarette smoking.

He says sufferers, mostly middle-aged, may not at first realise they have the disorder,
thinking instead they're just gradually slowing down with age.





But he says shortness of breath often causes them to cut back on their activities and
retire early from the workforce.

Eventually, even simple daily activities such as brushing the teeth can cause breathlessness
and anxiety.

And -- there's no cure ... although lung surgery can help.

AAP RTV er/sub

KEYWORD: TOBACCO LUNG (MELBOURNE)

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