World COPD Day: 21 November

To raise awareness of the chronic disease that will be the third cause of death worldwide in 2030, one day in the year is dedicated to COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

The number of people with the progressive lung disease COPD will increase significantly in the coming years. At this moment, about 600,000 people in the Netherlands suffer from COPD. The expectation is that by 2040 there will be more than 800,000.
COPD is caused by unhealthy air that enters the lungs when breathing, such as cigarette smoke and air pollution. An important reason for the rapid increase in the number of people with COPD in the years to come is that the destruction of lung tissue caused by (previous) smoking often only becomes clear when time has gone by.

Today on World COPD day, the Lung Foundation Netherlands makes this invisible disease visible, by showing the story of 49-year-old COPD patient Yolanda van Velzen. She was diagnosed with the disease 12 years ago. "Breathing is a constant struggle. I had a super job. I lost that. There is never a day without COPD."

On World COPD day, Yolanda visits Accelerate consortium leader prof.dr. Hans Clevers (Hubrecht Institute). In a simple and clear way Clevers explains the process and promise of lung regeneration. Click here (video in Dutch).