Did you know — November is considered Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Awareness Month!
Awareness plays an incredibly important role in supporting families, advancing research, and advocating for better treatments—or even a cure. As such, COPD Awareness Month presents an ideal time for people with COPD, their families, doctors, researchers, and more to come together towards this shared goal.
What is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)?
Over 300 million people worldwide are living with COPD. This condition encompasses chronic lung diseases like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Smoking, air pollution exposure, respiratory infections, and family history increase the risk of developing COPD. Doctors have also discovered a genetic predisposition.
People with COPD may experience symptoms such as breathlessness, frequent coughing or wheezing, difficulty taking deep breaths, chest pressure, fatigue, and excess mucus or sputum production.
Awareness Opportunities
So you’re ready to raise awareness—but where should you start? Thanks to the COPD Foundation, we have some ideas:
- Get social. Let’s face it, many of us use social media (a lot) — so why not leverage it in a positive, meaningful way? If you or someone you love has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, consider sharing your story, symptoms, or diagnostic journey online. You can also share posts from others and/or use this Lace Up for Lungs social media toolkit.
- Lace Up for Lungs. This challenge encourages people of all abilities to get moving for 30 minutes daily. During this, you can also fundraise by creating a social media fundraiser and encouraging people to donate as you post your progress!
- Wear orange. On November 15, grab your coolest orange gear and rock it! This is not just World COPD Day, but also called “Wear Orange Day.” If you’re wearing something particularly snazzy, make sure to tag us on social media so we can share it!
- Educate Others. Consider reaching out to your local hospitals, doctor offices, or media platforms to ask them to cover this awareness month. See if they will share any stories or facts related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- Educate yourself. The COPD Foundation offers these helpful resources so that you can learn more about COPD, what risk factors exist, how to live with this condition, how to stop smoking, and more.
