I have to comment on a doctors letter once again I come across him referring to COPD as smokers lung so inferring it is our own fault. Two weeks ago I went over to Europe for some treatment to do with emphysema .One of the doctors who was involved in my treatment was on the his government drugs agency board I mention this as to his credentials and to give credence to his views . during conversation he asked me about COPD when I started to explain skipping some of the facts he asked me for a full in depth explanation so I told him every thing I knew including all the stats also including that many of us blame ourselves and it is our own fault for smoking.The next day after speaking and explaining about treatment he said to me when he went home the night before,I saw him through my window at 11pm as he lives on the premises he said he had spent an hour on the Internet looking up copd.This is the main reason for me sharing his views.He went on to say having looked at the stats of 80% of copd sufferers smoked and 20% never smokers also suffer from copd which I already knew from attending PRH course .So he said he could not leave it at that .He had already told me that as a young boy he had been sent to a college in London in the seventies and could remember the fog so he looked at where I lived in Newcastle and found it has the highest instances of COPD in Europe so he asked himself why is this so he went further and found that Newcastle has the highest pollution rate in Europe so instead of just accepting it as smoke he was able to find a table to look at the different elements in the pollution and found there are minute particles of metals which never get blown or washed away as they are too heavy.He then went on to explain his views on why some people get copd and only 20% smokers get it while some never smokers get it he said that we are all born with an immune system so we are protected from viruses as soon as we are born what happens is some of us have parts of the immune system missing so while tobacco is a very bad thing the part of our immune system that is supposed to protect us from the effects and irritants of pollution and tobacco is missing from us, so it is wrong that Dr's should call it smokers lung as it is not our fault that our immune system is not doing its job but also everybody who smokes is endangering there health .He did say it was only his view as he could not give conclusive evidence .To conclude I did not not find out till later from one of the other Dr's that he is also an immunologist and studied under a professor.I have written this because having asked 14 nhs health professionals Dr's. PRH ,specialist none could give me any advice about treatment I was going for none had any knowledge whatsoever but the annoying thing is none could be bothered to find out. Sorry its bit long but I hope you can stop beating yourselves up for smoking and they also train Dr's to be more aware of modern and future treatment . Stay safe keep warm never mind the cost you and your health is far more important than money, have a very happy breath easy Christmas and a happy new year full of good cheer.
Smokers lung: I have to comment on a... - Lung Conditions C...
Smokers lung
PS
sorry my grammar is not so good
Your grammar is fine, ponteyorky and it isn't too long but I need to concentrate on reading what you say. Paragraphs make it easier. It is interesting to see that copd could be regional. I dont suffer from this but I do live in an area which is very prone to asthmatic conditions - agriculture, rape etc.
Thank you for that very interesting blog. 
I got that I only visited my Doctor when it was absolutely nescessary, I was fed of the Finger pointing and all danger of smoking lectures. One time I went with a stomach problem and after looking at the notes on his P.C the Doctor said, Of course you know smoking is not doing you any good. I rared up on him and told him if I;d shut my finger in the car door he'd probably blame it on smoking. We eventually calmed down and it was he who diagnosed my C.O.P.D. and said someone should have picked it up years ago. I told him, If it hadn't been for the lectures...they probably would have.
thankyou, yes very interesting.
Another thing about " smokers lung " is the ability for the lung to repair. I wont go into the details but a doctor at the Cambridge University Hospital suggests that some people have " shorter " Telomeres than others. This can shorten the amount of times a repair can take place and that is why some people can smoke twice as much as someone else and not get COPD because their Telomeres are longer so the cells can divide and produce new cells for longer.
This little video clip may help explain it all. Watch out for the word " Telomeres " ( an enzyme ).
www4.utsouthwestern.edu/cel...
Yes could be at least he is putting a theory out there to be discussed maybe my newly reoganised stemcells will meet up with them and make them longer again best wishes Dave
The doctor is a " she " actually.
stemcells.cam.ac.uk/researc...
I watch with interest. I know they do stem cell replacement in Mexico and Germany but I'd rather see what other doctors come up with. I find it all very fascinating.
I RESEARCHED THE STEM CELL TREATMENT AND FELT THAT IT HAD JUST A LITTLE FURTHER TO BEFORE I WOULD LOOK AT IT AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE VALVES THAT I HAD PUT IN, AND AS REGARDS GERMANY THE CLINICS ARE LOVELY UNFORTUNATELY ONE CAN BE OVERCHARGED TO THE MAX FOR OVER TREATMENT WITH YET WITH VERY PLEASANT VIEWS,LOL, AND MEXICO, WELL I THINK SWAPPING THE STEM CELL FOR THE KIDNEY WASN'T A GREAT DEAL,LMAO, MY LUNGS AND I ARE DOING JUST FINE,, HAVE A TERRIFIC DAY, CAUSE ITS GREAT TO WAKE UP IN THE MORNING,
I am sorry but as i do not know wetther you are a he or a she or anything about your codition I feel I cannot comment any further than to say i am 150% satisfied with caring , polite and highly qualified russian Drs and there staff who treated me with utmost respect so I have no interest in discussing pros and cons of the procedure with any person other than the experts
I am a he. I have severe emphysema. 27% lung function.
I am just commenting on your point you made about doctors saying it's our fault we got ill.
.I know nothing about your treatment, your doctors or your procedures so it's obvious I can't discuss it except you said you had nano treatment.
as I also have got the same 20% I think it is all in my profile any questions should be directed to Dr John Gurdon and Shiny Yamananka
What questions ? I haven't asked any.
Why would I want to ask 2 Nobel Prize winners questions anyway ?
I will direct any questions on the subject I am interested in to Dr. Rawlins who is also at the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge like Dr. Gurdon.
Well I for one won't apologise for smoking. Smoking is legal in the UK and is heavily taxed and has been for the better part of 400 years. It has been well known for quite sometime now that it is very detrimental to a smokers health yet still it is legal and heavily taxed. Successive governments have squandered the taxes raised on tobacco products, on everything but the welfare of its victims. Remember this, that the tax we paid to smoke will have paid many a Doctors wages over the years. COPD is a umbrella and as such all causes fall under it. It is all to easy to blame smoking first because it costs the least amount of money to diagnose. I don't suppose anyone sets out to develop a chronic lung disease but there should be a lot less castigating of the smokers and ex smokers and more support for everyone who suffers from "Chronic lung Disease"
Rant over
Gary
The set up is to get a reaction OD. Best ignore and report.
This is my first and will be my last blog as I only wrote it in the hope it would help some of the people who have been made to feel guilty for smoking.As for being a TROLL my profile is there for all to see as i have nothing to hide or feel embarrassed about I don't see your profile anywhere this will be my last comment on any thing I don't expect to be cured but hope to breath easier than with the tablets and inhalers I guess I will go and join Gordon one last thing I did stress that it was his point of view which he also stressed I Didn't wish to be involved in any argumentative discussion or even divulge I have had treatment but I am a pretty open and honest person and say what I feel have a nice Christmas every one
Sorry you got this reaction Ponteyorkie. I know you are a genuine user but there appears to have been some misunderstanding within the posts. You obviously thought Puff was critisicing your recent treatment and she felt you were stirring up trouble with your reply. Can we calm things down please?
Oops! Should read HE felt, sorry Puff.
No problem Aunty.
Well said puff and aunty no problems and calm are better for health
You are the one who decided to be confrontational with your posts.
No one was discussing your procedure.
" I am sorry but as i do not know wetther you are a he or a she or anything about your codition I feel I cannot comment any further than to say i am 150% satisfied with caring , polite and highly qualified russian Drs and there staff who treated me with utmost respect so I have no interest in discussing pros and cons of the procedure with any person other than the experts "
Hi Pontyyorky I found the letter very interesting thanks for posting it. No one here is a troll. We all get misunderstandings sometimes. Puff is a diamond and would never deliberately upset anyone. Lets just shake virtual hands and leave it at that please..
Keep posting Ponteyyorky please.
Bev xx
Thank you.
Here, here to that Bev. xxxxxx
HI everybody, I feel I must leave a comment regarding smokers lung, I do have and have had acute copd for about twelve years. When I was diagnosed the specialist went through my history of work etc. On recollection I was at 15 years spraying agricultural chemicals without the protection we have these days. In the fifties I was a driver delivering to the london markets and subjected to the dreadful smog. I have spent several years in the transport industry working in diesel smoke and brake dust environments etc. I was a smoker as well, so whilst I see smoking as partly to blame I see all these issues having been equally responsible in the end. This answer is not to cause contoversy but just to air my own issues on causes etc. I dont beat myself up on the subject but just get on with my life as best I can. Regards to all. Arn xx
I used to work for Ginetta cars which are fibreglass based. I had to cut out the window shapes from the body moulds. Fibreglass dust was all over the place. No face mask was issued. I also used to work for a crop spraying company as a field marker, This meant giving the helicopter a line to follow, Very often we used to get sprayed with the chemical, Rogor E it was called. It is/was a very hazardous pesticide. No face masks again. I have probably breathed in other rubbish as I have done a lot of knapsack spraying. So I agree with drifter that other things could easily contribute to getting COPD.
Pete also smoked some 20 odd years ago but more interestingly he also worked at Heathrow for a cargo airline and had to be inside the belly of an aircraft for hours at a time dealing with whatever was in there. No masks or ear defenders in those days. I do think smoking contributes to lots of lung problems but not only smoking. Sarcoidosis, which Pete also has, is not considered to be caused by smoking but he has copd because of the scarring caused by sarcoidosis. What can you do? I would just like to wish everyone a happy, healthy Christmas and keep posting everyone as this is a wonderful site to be on. Take care and all the best for 2013. xxxxxxx
The indisputable truth is that smoking is the biggest single contributory factor in the onset of COPD. Yes there are many other causes, environmental, occupational, genetic etc all of which can also have causal links. It is clear that anyone who continues to smoke in the face of current medical knowledge is threatening their health and life expectancy, and therefore is in denial. The real problem here is that no government has the cojones to do what needs to be done and shut down the tobacco barons.
Couldn't agree with you more, Having started smoking "behind the bike sheds" at the tender age of about 13, Being completely hooked on the ruddy things by about 14, and smoking till I was 53, in the intervening years I worked in the R.A.F fire service with the associated paraffin fumes, Two stints working in the South York's coal field underground, 17 years as a full time firefighter, and without a doubt the daftest thing I could possibly have done was to spray paint bits of my motorbike in a small shed, yes you've guessed it without a mask. I am still convinced that without a doubt that 40 years of sucking in the smoke , tar and associated chemicals has had in my case been the biggest culprit has been the fags. Unfortunately successive governments have used the populaces failings and addictions to the things that harm them most to provide revenue to follow agenda's that we may or may not agree with. but hey not much point in getting into political conversations on a site dedicated to a particular health issue. cheers, merry Christmas.
hindsight is a wonderful thing
has ponty gone
Dad had lung function test but still non the wiser
Lung foundation leaflet in members pack.
16% lung capacity
Doc. Says..........
Chemo for lung disease 
