IF you find yourself with short breath while doing basic tasks, you may be one of the thousands of Australians living a lung disease without knowing it.
More than 7.5 million Australians live with the lung disorders, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is a condition that causes restricted airflow and breathing problems for patients and can be terminal.
But Hayley Lewthwaite, a researcher and exercise physiologist with Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), does not want people to suffer unknowingly from the disease.
Around one in 10 adults have COPD. Almost half of sufferers do not realise they have the disease.
"People just tolerate the disease thinking they have [usual] symptoms of ageing or being unfit, but they may be living with a chronic lung disease," Dr Lewthwaite said.
"It has a lot of stigma. If people know of COPD, they associate with cigarette smoking," she said. "People aren't getting the healthcare they deserve. There is a bit of blaming going on and I think we need to move past that.
"[We need to] life that stigma, recognise there are many causes for COPD beyond the smoking and even if it is due to cigarette smoking, then people still deserve management."
Her passion is in healthy exercising to reduce impacts of COPD, and today she will hold a free chair yoga session and lunch for people living with lung conditions.
"many people are living with these conditions and not getting the proper management for the conditions to actually live better and longer."
Dr Lewthwaite said many early COPD symptoms like breathlessness, fatigue and coughs can mean people miss out on quality of life.
COPD often "goes under the radar" despite being in the top three conditions causing disability - and top five causes of death - for Australian adults.
"It has a huge impact on the population's ability to live well and live a long life," Dr Lewthwaite said.
But COPD is a preventable condition for people with "good lung health".
"That means avoiding exposures to toxic fumes, gases and chemicals," Dr Lewthwaite said. "Exposure to cigarette smoke is a risk factor for COPD but many other things contribute too."
