Nurse Practitioners from Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board were at Morrisons store in Bangor today, offering a simple and free screening test to determine whether or not a person is at risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The screening was arranged to coincide with worldwide COPD day, aimed at promoting awareness of the condition.
Millions of people across the UK have COPD without knowing, often struggling with their symptoms and a lower quality of life, for many people the condition can progress quickly because they are not receiving treatment.
A simple painless test called ‘Spirometry’ which takes less than five minutes, can determine whether or not a person is at risk of COPD. The nurses were also on hand to advise patients who already know they have the condition, to discuss ways of improving their quality of life, reduce flare-ups and giving advice on self management.
Symptoms of COPD can include a persistent cough, breathlessness and producing phlegm. The condition usually develops from long term damage caused to your lungs from breathing in a harmful substance, very often cigarette smoke, but also from air pollution.
