St Vincent’s To Host COPD Forum

BRIDGEPORT — St Vincent’s Medical Center will host a “COPD” (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Information Session on Monday, November 21, from 1 to 3 pm in the hospital’s Seton Room on Level C.

The event is free and open to the general public, and is part of St Vincent’s recognition of November as COPD Month in the state as proclaimed by Governor Jody Rell.

At the COPD Information Session, Robert Brown, MD, chief of St Vincent’s pulmonary division, will speak on symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment for COPD, and pulmonologist David Bushell, MD, will discuss the benefits and techniques for smoking cessation.

Participants are also encouraged to bring their medications to the information session as part of the “Brown Bag Drug Review” by St Vincent’s staff pharmacist Amanda Orsi, who will answer questions about each individual’s medications, their benefits, possible side effects, and interactions.

St Vincent’s respiratory therapists will also instruct participants on how to use inhalers.

COPD is a group of diseases that includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and asthmatic bronchitis, with the most common characteristic being obstruction to airflow out of the lungs. According to the National Lung Health Education Program, 90 percent of COPD in the United States is attributable to smoking, and the remaining ten percent to a previous serious lung infection.

In the early stages, COPD is completely silent but can be detected by a breathing test called spirometry, which will be discussed at the information session.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Parking is free and individuals are asked to bring their ticket for validation.

For more information, call St Vincent’s toll-free Care Line at 877-255-7847.