Mistaken for Aging... "Half of Patients with Acute Exacerbation Die Within 3 Years"

[Anchor]

If you experience severe shortness of breath when climbing stairs and have a persistent cough, you should suspect Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). It is ranked as the 9th leading cause of death in South Korea, yet both diagnosis and treatment remain challenging.

Reporter Han Sung-hee has the story.

[Reporter]

Park Sang-yong, a 67-year-old apartment security guard, was diagnosed with COPD four years ago. He had smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for over 40 years and was exposed to exhaust fumes while working as a truck driver for a decade.

[Park Sang-yong/COPD Patient: (Around the time of diagnosis) When I climbed hills or carried heavy loads, I felt significantly more breathless than others.]

Although the lungs are known to be difficult to recover, he is now able to manage his daily life without much difficulty thanks to early detection and treatment.

[Park Sang-yong/COPD Patient: (Before treatment) I used to gasp for air, but now, I feel almost like a normal person and rarely get out of breath.]

It is estimated that there are 3 million COPD patients in South Korea, and if left untreated, it can lead to acute exacerbation and death. Statistics show that 50% of patients hospitalized due to acute exacerbation pass away within three years, and 75% within seven years.

While the primary symptoms include shortness of breath during physical activity and persistent coughing or phlegm, many people dismiss these as signs of aging.

This makes early diagnosis difficult.

A pulmonary function test, used to detect COPD, measures the amount of air exhaled after a deep inhalation. Let me try it myself.

[(Inhale once more, and blow. Whoosh! Keep blowing. Inhale again.) This is really difficult.]

Because the test requires a dedicated clinical pathologist and takes significant time for examination and explaining treatment methods, many clinics avoid performing the test.

[Moon Ji-yong/Professor of Pulmonology and Allergy, Konkuk University Medical Center: There are many primary care clinics where pulmonary function tests are not available, so treatment is mainly provided at the hospital level or higher.]

In South Korea, where air pollution levels are relatively high, 13% of patients have never smoked. It is crucial for those with suspicious symptoms to visit a hospital and undergo a pulmonary function test.

(Video reporting: Kim Han-gyeol, Video editing: Jang Hyun-ki)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.