Are you a smoker experiencing the typical "smoker's cough" or other smoking-related symptoms like shortness of breath or increased mucus production? While you may think these are common side effects associated with smoking, they may be signs of a serious, underlying lung disease like COPD. So, what can you do about it? That's simple...get a spirometry test.

In a study performed by the British Lung Foundation, 73% of smokers surveyed had NOT had a spirometry (lung function) test to test for COPD, in spite of many of them having COPD symptoms. It is for this reason that smokers are urged to undergo spirometry to test for the presence of lung disease. The test, non-invasive and very simple, only takes about 10 minutes and can be completed in the privacy of your doctor's office. So, why bother, you say?

Spirometry helps doctors diagnose COPD early on in the course of the disease, before a whole lot of damage has been done. Early diagnosis leads to earlier treatment, which can help lesson the debilitating effects of the disease.

To learn more about spirometry testing and other pulmonary function tests, visit:

The Importance of Pulmonary Function Tests

November 18, 2009 marks World COPD Day, a day celebrated across the nation to help raise awareness about COPD. This year, nationwide events are happening, including a Country Music Festival and Barbecue in Lexington, Kentucky and a Festival in the Park, in Nashville, Tennessee. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

For more information or to find an event in your area, visit:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/lung/copd/event-listing/index.htm

In honor of COPD Awareness Month, the NHLBI is asking that each of us do our part in spreading the word about COPD by sending a free COPD E-Card to friends and family members who may be at risk, or know someone who is at risk for the disease.

The Learn More Breathe Better Campaign wants people to know that COPD is treatable, and that those at risk should get a simple breathing test administered by their doctor. Diagnosing COPD early in the course of the disease is optimal for COPD management.

To access your free COPD E-Cards, visit:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/lung/copd/copdcards.htm

The American Lung Association (ALA) has paired up with AstraZeneca to create a new COPD toolkit designed to help people accurately report their COPD symptoms to their health care provider. Their goal -- to help COPD patients better manage their disease.

The toolkit includes a COPD Action Plan and COPD Report Card designed to foster communication between doctor and patient. Not only will the toolkit help COPD patients better understand their disease, but it will teach them to recognize when their COPD may be getting worse (a condition known as COPD exacerbation), and what steps to take if this occurs.

The American Lung Association is committed to improving the lives of COPD patients through education and early detection. To download a copy of the toolkit, visit COPD Management Tools.

To learn how to better cope with COPD, visit:

Have you heard the news? November is no longer just for turkey lovers! Each year, November marks COPD Awareness Month where the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) will be soliciting your help to spread the word. And what does the NHLBI want you to do? That's simple - get involved.

 The Learn More Breathe Better Campaign seeks to raise awareness about COPD as a serious lung disease, increase the understanding that COPD is not curable, but is treatable, and encourage people, especially smokers and former smokers, to get an annual spirometry test measuring their lung function. Why? Because early screening leads to earlier diagnosis, which ultimately leads to earlier treatment and a higher qualify of life.

For more information and to find out how you can partner with the NHLBI, visit http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/lung/copd/index.htm.

Enough about swine flu already, isn't it time we started talking about something else for a change -- like the approaching holidays! With Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, temptations of overeating will undoubtedly run rampant. And, for COPD patients, overeating can lead to a worsening of COPD symptoms.

The following tips are geared towards the COPD patient who wants to watch his or her waistline this holiday season:

6 Tips For Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain

According to the CDC, there have been a number of swine flu deaths related to bacterial pneumonia -- deaths, which may have been prevented by getting the pneumococcal polysccharide vaccine (PPV).

For those of you who have gotten their pneumonia vaccine, great news! Way to go! But, there are some people who actually need a second dose. Are you one of them? Let's find out.

You should have a second dose if you are in the following groups:

• Anyone 65 years of age or older who got their first dose before they turned 65, if at least 5 years has passed since the initial dose was given.
• Anyone who has a damaged or no spleen, sickle cell disease, HIV, AIDS, cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, kidney failure, nephrotic syndrome, an organ or bone marrow transplant, or who is taking medication that may lower their immunity, such as chemotherapy or long-term steroids.

If any of you fall into the above categories, talk to your health care provider about getting a second dose.

For more information about the pneumonia vaccine, visit COPD and the Pneumonia Vaccine: What You Need to Know.

I love my wood burning stove, but the other day as the rain set in and I became so chilled I could break icicles off my chin, I decided to burn some wood. When I did so, I noticed that I smelled smoke, which was very irritating to my lungs, and the lungs of my husband, who has COPD.

After breathing in the smoke for much of the day, I figured something HAD to be wrong. I decided to do some research to see exactly what consequences I could suffer from a wood burning stove and how I could burn wood in it safely and more efficiently. Hence, I've written a new article with a wealth of information about wood burning stoves. I hope you find it useful:

The Health Hazards of Wood Burning Stoves

Do you have a wood burning stove? Have you ever noticed a worsening of your COPD symptoms when you used it? Please drop a line and share your comments.

In a preliminary analysis, the CDC reported that many of the patients hospitalized with the swine (H1N1) flu virus have underlying medical conditions that increase the risk of complications from the flu.

Among 1,400 hospitalized adults who were evaluated, the most common underlying conditions reported were chronic lung disease, asthma, diabetes, sickle-cell anemia and other blood disorders, neurological and neuromuscular disorders. Pregnancy was also noted to increase the risk of flu complications.

Based on these preliminary findings, the CDC recommends that those with underlying medical conditions and pregnant women receive priority access to the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available.

What about you? Will you be getting a swine flu vaccine this season? Cast your vote in the poll and be sure to leave your comments.

Read more about the safey of the swine flu vaccine from Kristina Duda, Guide to Cold and Flu.

Thanks to researchers at The University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, patients with chronic lungs diseases like COPD and asthma may soon be offered better treatment.

After a purpose-built MRI unit was established to help study lung diseases, a new technique was developed which will allow doctors to virtually see inside the lungs using a new type of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner.

The technique involves a specially treated, harmless gas which patients are to inhale during the MRI scan. Unlike air, this gas shows up differently on the MRI, giving an impressively-detailed picture of the lungs. The new method not only shows both healthy and damaged parts of the lungs, but it will show the gas being absorbed into the bloodstream, giving doctors a better idea about how well the different parts of the lungs are transferring oxygen.

Although I don't know where you have to live to participate, and many of you live in the UK, you should know that clinical trials on the use of the hyperpolarized Xenon (gas) and the MRI in healthy volunteers are planned to start in the next few months, followed by clinical trials involving patients with COPD and lung fibrosis. Anyone interested in volunteering for these clinical trials can contact the research team at +44 115 970 9783.

For more information about the new MRI scan, visit media-newswire.com.