COPD Screenings
Staff Report / April 10, 2014 / Views: 9 / 
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Take a deep breath. Was it easy? Or did it feel like you had a champion weightlifter’s barbell on your chest? If you answered yes to the latter, you might know what it’s like to have COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two most common conditions that make up COPD, so many times it is linked with smoking. Research is showing, however, that there is a genetic cause of COPD and Riverside Medical Center is offering a free screening that could put you on the path to breathing easier again.
Alpha1-antitrypsin (alpha-1) is an inherited condition that can cause COPD. This means you have a low level of a protective protein called alpha1-antitrypsin, or AAT, putting you at higher risk for developing lung diseases. An alpha-1 test will help you and your doctor make the best decision about your treatment, even if you were a smoker.
“A recent study showed that about 80 percent of alpha-1 patients were smokers or ex-smokers,” said Pam Lindemann, BA, RRT, RCP, Riverside respiratory care manager. “It may seem like it doesn’t matter where the COPD came from, but it does. If you have alpha-1, you could pass it on to your children.”
The lung symptoms that are caused by alpha-1 include difficulty breathing, wheezing, frequent coughing or phlegm production, long-lasting chest colds or pneumonia, low tolerance for exercise, allergies that last all year long or asthma that isn’t better with medication.
The American Thoracic Society recommends this screening for all adult patients with COPD, especially those with asthma that doesn’t get better with medication, with emphysema with or without a history of smoking, with COPD with or without a history of smoking, with risk factors who perform poorly on lung function tests, even if they don’t show symptoms, and who have siblings with alpha-1.
The alpha-1 screenings are available at Riverside Medical Center, 350 North Wall Street in Kankakee, and the Ambulatory Lung Clinic in the Bourbonnais Campus, 300 Riverside Drive. To schedule a free screening, contact the Outpatient Scheduling at 815-935-7531.
For more information on the award-winning services Riverside offers, visit www.RiversideMC.net.