Crystal ball-like web tool could help patients with lung disease: B.C. doctor
VANCOUVER — Millions of people who feel like they’re suffocating from the symptoms of a lung disease could benefit from a new website its creator considers a crystal ball for helping doctors calculate how progression could be delayed with tailored therapies.
Vancouver resident Alan Finch, 62, is among an estimated 300 million people worldwide who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but he’s one of the first to get specific therapy because of an online lung-function predictor, developed, in large part, by his respirologist, Dr. Don Sin.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, destroys the lungs, leading to large holes in them and narrowing of the breathing tubes so patients hunger for air.
As a half- to one-pack-a-day smoker, Finch was diagnosed with the disease in his mid-40s after initially thinking his shortness of breath was due to asthma. In 2005, he developed a lung infection that put him in an induced-coma.