Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the umbrella classification for two underlying diseases, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is estimated that 12 million people in the United States now have the disease. It is the fourth leading cause of death and is expected to move up to number three by 2020. Approximately 80-90% of COPD sufferers are now, or have been smokers.

Primarily a disease of middle- and old-age, symptoms rarely occur before the age of 40. As the average age of the population increases, so does the incidence of COPD. We can see this clearly in data regarding COPD hospitalizations in 2005, the most recent year for which we have complete statistics. There were 22,000 hospitalizations of patients between the ages of 15-44, 229,000 hospitalizations of patients between the ages of 45-64 and there were nearly one-half million hospitalizations of patients over the age of 65. Since 2000 COPD has consistently been diagnosed more often in women.

The impact on the daily lives of those with COPD is extreme. According to a survey conducted by the American Lung Association, more than half of all COPD patients say their condition limits their normal exertion, their capacity to work, to do household chores, engage in social activities and their ability to sleep.

The economic impact of COPD is staggering. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute estimated that in 2007 the annual cost to the United States for COPD was $42.6 billion. That figure includes $26.7 billion in direct health care expenditures, $8 billion in indirect morbidity costs and $7.9 billion in indirect mortality costs.

Expert opinion estimates that there are about 15 million cases of COPD that go undiagnosed each year, making it one of the most under diagnosed diseases in the United States. It is therefore imperative that primary care physicians be given the necessary education to enable them to make earlier diagnoses of this growing threat to the health of all Americans.