West Virginia in the top 5 states for chronic lung disease - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

     According to smokefree.gov we're ranked second only to Kentucky with 25.5 percent of our population being smokers.

     This is crucial information because 90 percent of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD are caused by smoking.

     And doctors here said it's not just the older folks.

Dr. Z. Shamma Othman with Greenbrier Physicians Clinic said, "We still see a lot of younger generations that continue to smoke in this area, they see the parents smoke and the parents continue to smoke."

Research is showing nearly 9 percent of West Virginia adults have been diagnosed with COPD.

That's the fourth-highest rate in the country.

     And translates to more than 130,000 people.

     So we already know it's caused by smoking but there's still about 10 percent of people out there with it that don't smoke.

Shamma Othman said, "The wife will come in and say no I don't smoke but we ask about the husband and he smokes three packs a day so she is getting that exposure so that will give you the same damage as if you are smoking yourself."

     COPD is the third leading cause of death here in the states.

     But doctor Shamma-Othman said a lot of people don't know they have it and don't think they should get tested.

She said, "There is a lot of denial about the disease, sometimes you will tell the patient they have COPD and they will really get upset when they hear they have COPD and they know that they have been coughing up for months they know that they have the wheezing they know that they have the symptoms from it."