NHLBI’s COPD Learn More Breathe Better® Campaign
Online Press Kit

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, in partnership with leading professional societies, health, and advocacy organizations has launched COPD Learn More Breathe Better®, a national campaign designed to improve awareness among those at greatest risk for the disease.

What is COPD

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a serious lung disease that over time makes it hard to breathe.  You may also have heard COPD called by other names, like emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

In people who have COPD, the airways are partially blocked, which makes it hard for the air to get in and out. COPD develops slowly and worsens over time.

Why COPD? Why Now?

• COPD is the #4 cause of death in America, claiming one life every 4 minutes.
• 12 million Americans have COPD and another 12 million may have it and not know it.
• Diagnosis involves a simple breathing test right in the doctor’s office.
• Treatments can help patients live longer and more active lives.

Press Releases

• New Survey Suggests Growing Awareness of COPD, Nation’s Fourth Leading Killer
• NIH Launches New Campaign Aimed at Increasing Awareness, Early Diagnosis and Treatment for COPD
• Statement from Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, on COPD Awareness Month, November 2007.

Matte Articles

• Learn About COPD and Breathe Better
• When It’s More Than Just a Cough: Early Detection and Treatment of COPD can Improve Quality of Life

Biography of Patient Advocate Grace Anne Dorney Koppel

Story Ideas

• Create a feature story by profiling a person with COPD. Address issues like risk factors, diagnosis, treatment and effective disease management techniques.
• Early diagnosis matters, focuses on the importance of diagnosis and treatment for people with COPD.
• Are you at risk? Explore the people most commonly affected by the disease, and outline the signs and symptoms.
• New frontiers, NIH’s COPD research program.
• Explore studies published in major medical journals or presented at annual medical professional conferences.
• Cover a local COPD event. See our Event Listing Page.

Sample Stories

• COPD on the Road in Arizona
• COPD Screening on the Road
• Colorado COPD Coalition Launches First-Ever Statewide COPD Action Plan

Print PSA: “It Has a Name”* – creative identifies many common symptoms that comprise COPD.

Radio PSAs – 60 and 30 second spots of the following PSAs:

• Can't Sing: humorous spot where a country music singer finds difficulty singing with his coughing and shortness of breath
• Stock Car: air flow is an important element for stock cars as well as people
• My Story: a woman explains her struggle with shortness of breath, and subsequent COPD diagnosis
• Sound Like You?: coughing and wheezing, if it sounds like you, you may have COPD

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact the NHLBI communications office at 301-496-4236 or nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov or visit public.nhlbi.nih.gov/newsroom/home/newsroom.aspx.

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