Get your chest checked today

THE CYPRUS League for Chest Diseases, in collaboration with the Cyprus Respiratory Society are today organising a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day throughout the island.

The event is to be held in several central public spaces in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos and Paralimni. Pulmonary specialists will provide information and advise about COPD. A free spirometry test will also be available.

COPD is a disease characterised by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible and includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It is a major public health problem and is currently the fourth leading cause of disease in the world.

Risk factors for COPD include both host factors and environmental exposures and the disease usually arises from an interaction between these two types of factors. The host factor that is best documented is a rare hereditary deficiency while the major environmental factor is tobacco smoke, along with dusts and chemicals and air pollution.

A chronic cough is usually the first symptom. Syspnea is the reason most patients seek medical attention and is a major cause of disability and anxiety associated with the disease.

A diagnosis of COPD should be considered by any patient who has a cough, sputum production or dyspnea and/or a history of exposure to risk factors for the disease. The diagnosis is confirmed by an objective measure of airflow limitation.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.