Groups Raising Awareness of Work-Related Lung Disease

Although three-quarters of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cases are caused by smoking, another 15% are work-related, resulting from exposure to dust, gases and fumes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But diagnosis of COPD is often delayed, and doctors fail to recognize that it may be work-related, said Dr. Akshay Sood, pulmonologist at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. “Individuals often don’t report these symptoms early enough and physicians often dismiss these symptoms,” Sood said. “And when they do recognize the sym...