Study Says These Two Are The Deadliest Lung Diseases

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If you have been suffering from COPD ( chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and asthma then you should not neglect them. If left unattended this might turn fatal as well.

According to a study published recently in the renowned medical journal 'The Lancet Medical Respiratory Medicine' these two lung diseases - COPD and asthma, have claimed 3.6 million lives worldwide in 2015.

For the study, researchers led by Theo Vos, a professor at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, analysed data from 188 countries to estimate, in each one, the number of cases and deaths annually from 1990 to 2015.

As per the research, about 3.2 million people succumbed that year to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), caused mainly by smoking and pollution, while 400,000 people died from asthma.

COPD prevalence and death rates declined over that period, but the overall numbers increased with nearly 12 percent more deaths because of population growth.
For asthma, prevalence went up by almost 13 percent to 358 million people worldwide, but the number of deaths dropped by more than a quarter.

The countries with the highest concentration of people disabled by COPD in 2015 were Papua New Guinea, India, Lesotho and Nepal, as per the study.
Asthma, was found to be highly prevalent in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Fiji, Kiribati, Lesotho, Papula New Guinea and Swaziland.

High-income Asian nations were least affected by COPD, along with countries in central Europe, north Africa, the Middle East and western Europe. Central and eastern Europe, along with China, Japan and Italy, had among the lowest rates of asthma.

Asthma is twice as prevalent, but COPD is eight times more deadly, the study found.

COPD Signs & Symptoms:

COPD also known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe.

Cough, wheezing, shortness of breath and tightness of chest are the common symptoms of COPD. Smoking cigarette is one of the leading cause for COPD. Exposure to lung irritants like air pollution, chemical fumes or dusts are the other factors that causes COPD.

Asthma Signs & Symptoms:

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Recurrent wheezing with a whistling sound when as you breathe, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath are few of the symptoms of asthma.

For those suffering from asthma coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning.