Jump to full article: WalesOnline (uk), 2009-11-16
Author: Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail
Intro: ALL smokers and people with a family history of lung disease should have access to a lung function test every three years, says a charity.
The British Lung Foundation believes the provision of such tests in Wales would mean more people are diagnosed with lung diseases earlier.
This would help improve their quality of life and reduce the long-term burden on NHS services.
But stigma and a lack of understanding about symptoms means that an estimated three-quarters of people with lung disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in Wales have not been diagnosed.
The call for routine testing comes ahead of World COPD day on Wednesday.
Dr Emrys Evans, a respiratory consultant at Morriston Hospital, in Swansea, said: "A lot of patients seem to accept symptoms, assume there is no underlying condition and that they will go away.
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