150,000 people in Norway have Kols (COPD)

It has been unclear how many people have got Kols in Norway. This is due, for example, to the fact that most people have mild illnesses and that many people do not realize they have the disease.

The new calculations are based on health records, figures from the latest health survey in Tromsø and other research. The data were reviewed by the academic communities at the universities of Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø, as well as the National Institute of Public Health.

The result of the review calculations shows that around 6 percent of the population over 40 years have got the disease.

Kols is a disease that involves chronic impaired lung function, and is primarily due to smoking, but also for example, dust in the working environment, according to chief physician Per Nafstad at the department for non-communicable diseases at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

The worst affected people must still be hospitalized, especially in connection with influenza and respiratory tract infections. The disease can not be cured, but treatment can alleviate the symptoms, and especially smoking cessation is important.

Kols is one of the four important non-contagious diseases that are partly associated with risk factors such as smoking, diet, physical inactivity and alcohol. The others are cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.