Well, yes, money but a lot more than that! Save your Quality and Quantity of LIFE!
All you have to do is have a simple noninvasive, very affordable test. Next time you go to the Doctor tell him/her that since you have smoked more than 100 Sickerettes in your lifetime - you have, haven't you? - you need a Spirometry Test! It's a simple breathing test not unlike a drunk driving test. Your Doctor most likely has a Spirometer sitting in his/her office hopefully not collecting dust!!!!
Doctors are sometimes dense about this one! Reminders help - insistence helps even more!
Early diagnosis of COPD could save you huge sums of money! You have smaller risk of COPD exacerbations and comorbidities such as osteoporosis, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety and cancer.
Many of us believe we're just out of shape. We get winded going up a flight of stairs or after a long day of shopping and we figure we're just out of shape or not as young as we used to be. But breathlessness can mean something much more serious: COPD! That smoker's cough? It might be chronic bronchitis! Don't blow it off! COPD will not get better! But it can be effectively managed! The earlier the diagnosis the better the scope of effective treatment options and improved control of symptom development! This enables us to lead more active lives without complications and do the things we love to do!
Other findings:
- People diagnosed with COPD cost healthcare services five times as much as the control group who did not have COPD.
- People diagnosed with COPD had incomes half as high as those of the control group who did not have COPD.
- COPD patients diagnosed early have a 60% lower risk of the disease worsening
- Women with COPD are diagnosed later than men with COPD.
The only treatment that helps slow the progression of the disease - Smoking Cessation!!!!
Get the test! Knowing is better than not knowing and sooner is much, much better than later!
