Appearing on BBC Morning Live, Dr Punam Krishan gave exact time people should have cough for before getting it checked
BBC Morning Live’s, Dr Punam Krishan said people often put COPD symptoms down to just ageing(Image: BBC)
A BBC doctor has said that this week, two patients came to her with a cough, and it turned out to be a disease with no cure. Appearing on BBC Morning Live, Dr Punam Krishan was speaking out about a chronic condition which 1.7 million suffer from – but hundreds of thousands more have without knowing.
And she explained exactly how long people should have a cough for before they get it checked out properly. Host Nick Knowles raised how a viewer had asked about COPD and cures he’d seen online, which claim it can be sorted out in 7-14 days. Because the weather has changed, people are also experiencing hayfever, and symptoms like a lingering cough or wheezing can be easy to dismiss.
Dr Punam said: “Over the last few years, I’ve been seeing more and more patients coming through to me and saying, ‘Look, I’ve seen this on social media or I’ve tried this’ and it has the potential to cause harm as well and there is a lot of misinformation and it can be really hard and you can see why adverts like this can be so appealing if you are somebody who’s living with COPD.
“So, for anyone who doesn’t know what that stands for, it stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It’s a term that we use to describe lung conditions that really make your breathing difficult. Now, the thing is if you do come across anything online, you’re not sure about it, always go to a trusted medical source.
“So, the NHS website’s a great place to start. Medical experts, speak to your doctor or your pharmacist before trying anything. Unfortunately, when it comes to COPD, it is a progressive lung condition, which means it can worsen over time. So, sadly, there isn’t a cure. Certainly, nothing over 7 to 14 days that’s going to make a difference.”
Dr Punam said the illness is often missed or just put down to ageing. She said: “Around 1.7 million people in the UK are currently living with COPD, but we believe that number is actually a lot higher. And that’s because the symptoms can develop over a long period of time and they tend to develop slowly . So, people tend to dismiss them or put it off to maybe it’s because I’m getting older. Maybe it’s because I’m unfit. COPD tends to be diagnosed when you’re like middle-aged or older adults, but it can affect anybody earlier as well.”
She said smoking is one of the most common causes. The two main problems within COPD are emphysema and chronic bronchitis. She added: “And what’s really happening in the lungs during that is that it causes inflammation. It causes narrowing of the airways. It causes scarring. It affects the tiny air sacs in our lungs whose job it is to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream so that we can breathe properly. So of course, if those are damaged, it really does impact you long term.”
She said people should not ignore coughs – and gave an exact time people should get it checked out. Dr Punam said: “A lot of people do just sit on it and dismiss it. The earlier you get it diagnosed, the better it is because there are lots of things that we can do to support the symptoms.
“So, if you have a new cough that is persisting, I would say the rule of thumb is four to six weeks. If something is persisting beyond that time, it’s not going away. You don’t know why you’ve got it, so have a chat with your doctor because we can investigate that to look at the root cause, but don’t just dismiss it. Anything more than four weeks, a cough that you just don’t know why it’s there, get it looked at.”
Nick asked: “We’ve had hay fever as we’ve been hearing this week already this year. Is that a complication?” Dr Punam said: “Well, it is. Just this week, actually, I had two patients who have COPD who came in because they felt that their hay fever had started affecting them.
“The thing is a quarter of people that have got COPD will be sensitive to pollen. We’re loving spring – it’s around the corner. But with that, of course, pollen counts rise and if you’re sensitive to that, it can affect your breathing. So often I find people with COPD can get misdiagnosed, or maybe it’s just a flare-up of the condition or a chest infection, but actually, if you’re coughing a lot more, if you’re producing a lot more phlegm, you’re congested, now is the time.”