What can be done to prevent occupation-related COPD?
Recent reports on studies on COPD offered a number of suggestions. Regulators should take action to reduce workplace exposures through engineering and other hygiene. Health practitioners, workers, and employers need to be made aware of the hazards posed by airborne exposures to harmful chemicals at work. Medical clinicians must determine potential occupational causes for COPD to support early detection and the best opportunity for preventing disability and mortality, and for epidemiological case reporting. Lastly, efforts to reduce tobacco smoking should be accompanied (where appropriate) by initiatives to reduce or eliminate occupational exposures. Early diagnosis and treatment of COPD are key to slowing the progression of the disease and helping the patient feel healthier.
