06.09.13
One in eight deaths caused by lung disease
Lung conditions cause one in eight of all deaths in the European Union, new research shows. The European Respiratory Society report warns that smoking is a big factor in deaths from the four most common fatal lung diseases; lower respiratory infections, COPD, lung cancers and tuberculosis.
The report uses the latest data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to analyse trends in lung disease.
The UK has 112 deaths per 100,000 people due to lung conditions, one of the highest in Europe. Finland has the lowest at 53.7. The European Respiratory Society estimates that half of the total socio-economic cost of respiratory disease is caused by smoking.
Professor Francesco Blasi, president of the society, said of the report: “Both the prevention and treatment of lung diseases will need to be improved if their impact on longevity, quality of life of individuals and economic burden on society are to be reduced in Europe and worldwide.”
Prof Richard Hubbard, from the British Lung Foundation, said: “Diseases like lung cancer and COPD do kill tens of thousands of people each year, but there are over 40 different types of lung disease. Mortality rates for some of these, such as IPF and mesothelioma, have been steadily increasing for decades.
“Taken all together, it is likely that around a quarter of deaths in the UK each year are from respiratory disease – as many as are killed by all non-lung-related forms of cancer put together.”
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