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Funding for COPD

By April 8, 2008 - 9:26am
 
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For those of you who are interested, the American Lung Association is pushing the Centers for Disease Control to fund a program to combat Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

According to the ALA Web site, COPD kills 130,000 people a year and is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. The $6 million in funding would go to better data collection and awareness. The site doesn't note whether other programs would be cut to help fund the project.

If you would like to help out, you can write your Congressman/woman by filling out this form on the ALA's Web site.

http://lungaction.org/campaign/COPD_Programs

Add a Comment4 Comments

The only thing that I've seen help a "smoker in denial" is to ask them what they LOVE about smoking. Why do they smoke? How does it make them feel? How do they feel without smoking? Get the scoop on the when, why, how, where, what...and let them tell you the full story as many times as it takes.

Once the person opens up about their story, it is one step in the right direction. Many people who smoke have been doing so for so long, that it helps them to verbalize why, indeed, they are smoking! They may have started young, for a specific purpose...now, is it just a habit? Or, are they feeling sad or depressed? Or, does it just feel great and they love the freedom and sensation?

Also, please note: the person with whom they share their love relationship (with smoking) may not be the person whom is closest to them in a "real" human relationship. For example, the person closest to my chain-smoking dad, my mom, is now known as "the nagger" when it comes to his smoking, and he hesitates to talk with her about it now.

The next step: what do they HATE about their smoking? What specifically do they not like about the cigarette or pipe or cigar or dip...most smokers have a laundry list of the negatives, everything from the cost, the time it takes out of their day, the inconvenience at times, the nagging from loved ones, the negative attention they receive from nonsmokers, the stains on their fingers and teeth...

To help in the conversation, there is a "Why I Smoke Test" online (see my blog for website, link below)
https://www.empowher.com/community/blog/alison-b/08/03/11/the-%2526quot%3Bwhy-i-smoke-test%2526quot%3B

Good luck! Remember that quitting smoking isn't about a person's "will"; they are physically and psychologically addicted to a drug. There is no amount of pleading or guilt or information that will "make" them quit; they have to want to quit. The best motivators for quitting include:
1.) a doctor recommending that they quit to save their health
2.) experiencing a negative health consequence themselves or through a loved one
3.) taking an antidepressant that takes away the cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Many smokers continue to smoke to avoid severe withdrawal symptoms.

April 10, 2008 - 12:34pm
(reply to Alison Beaver)

My hubby and I went through this already, and more than once. He doesn't really enjoy smoking, it's a behavior. He's high strung, has to be constantly doing something, does things without really thinking, including smoking. What I absolutely abhor is when he walks around the house with an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth (he faces the wrath of khan if he lights up in the house, it's strictly forbidden). I told him that it doesn't make him look like James Dean, but makes him look derelict. I know that is unkind of me; it's also how I honestly see it.

He doesn't enjoy the way it makes him feel, nor does he enjoy how he feels when I bring up the fact that it makes him unapproachable. Even my daughter "nags" him about this.

He knows he is addicted and continues smoking for no good reason. He has tried hypnosis, the patch (that sent him into a near cardiac arrest) and I'm not entirely sure what else. His brother is a pharmacist, and former chain smoker, who has tried to counsel him. He has no lack of supportive people around him.

It is most definitely lack of will in his case.

April 10, 2008 - 6:15pm

I can relate. The only time my father -- a longtime smoker with a stubborn streak -- didn't light up was around his two grandsons. Time with them seemed to be the only reason to 'postpone' his habit, even if it was only for 10 minutes. And, you're right, Congress couldn't have helped.

April 10, 2008 - 10:44am

My Darling Groom insists that his horrible, gravely cough is due to bronchitis or allergies. I think not. He has been a smoker longer than I've known him and I see no quitting in his immediate future. That's because he doesn't really have the will to quit.

I don't know what will be his wake up call. He watched his mother die of lung cancer. He saw my grandfather suffer with emphysema, the result of years of exposure to asbestos while an engineer in the Navy shipyards. His best friend died of lung cancer, and he, too, always chalked his constant coughing to bronchitis and allergies.

How do you help incite a person at risk to action to save his/her lungs, if there's still a chance? Should it really take an act of Congress?

April 8, 2008 - 4:54pm
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