AstraZeneca has a strong heritage of discovering new medicines that are designed to improve the health of patients managing a variety of respiratory conditions.
Over the course of more than 20 years, AstraZeneca has delivered important treatments in the respiratory therapeutic area and continues to recognize that its work extends far beyond the medicines to also include a responsibility to provide resources to help patients.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. COPD is a serious, yet common, lung disease that makes it hard to breathe and includes one or both of the following respiratory ailments:
- Chronic bronchitis—constantly inflamed and irritated airways
- Emphysema—damage to small air sacs and airways in your lungs
While it is estimated that more than 12 million people in the US suffer from COPD, there is an estimated 12 million more people that remain undiagnosed.
- www.RethinkCOPD.com offers tools and resources for patients to help them to plan for each day. This site provides guidance that encourages patients to talk to their physicians about ways to think differently about coping with COPD.
Asthma
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by excessive sensitivity of the lungs or increased reactivity of the airways to various environmental stimuli or triggers.
Approximately, 23 million Americans suffer from asthma. Of these, more than 12 million experienced an asthma attack in 2004, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.It is estimated that 11 people die from asthma attacks each day in the US.
- www.RethinkAsthmaControl.com provides tools and resources for patients with asthma to better understand their triggers and how they can maintain control over their symptoms.
AstraZeneca is committed to supporting patients and caregivers by providing valuable resources that offer tools for patients to better manage their symptoms so they can plan for each new day.
Other sources of information
In addition, AstraZeneca provides patients with a program called My Measures For Success. My Measures for Success was developed by people with asthma and COPD. It offers patients with asthma and COPD great ideas they can use to help control their symptoms. The program includes ideas to help patients save money, save time, earn rewards, and simply prepare for their day.
- Visit www.MyMeasuresForSuccess.com for more information.
In addition to the information on this site, patient and physician organizations also provide disease –state information on their Web sites. AstraZeneca is not responsible for the content of those sites or the privacy policy of any third-party Web site. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every Web site you visit.
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Asthma Capitals (www.asthmacapitals.com)
Every year the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) releases the Asthma Capitals annual report that ranks the 100 most challenging places to live if you have asthma. This list is based on analyzing key factors including asthma prevalence, environmental risk factors, and medical utilization. The report calls attention to the asthma epidemic and advocates changes in each city to improve the quality of life for people with asthma. -
American Lung Association Asthma/COPD profiler (www.lungusa.org)
ALA provides a COPD profiler that was developed to provide patients with COPD with tools and information to help them better understand their diagnosis and to help them make more informed treatment decisions with their physician.
Along with these resources, patients should work with their health care professional to determine the appropriate asthma management plan and treatment option that is right for them.
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