Mary Walsh

While heart disease and cancer deaths are actually dropping in Canada, another cause of death is on the rise: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

But comedian Mary Walsh has taken up the cause with the Lung Association, raising awareness of the disease and how to prevent it.

"Of course chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a terrible name, but what it is is all the diseases of the respiratory system; emphysema, pneumonia, bronchitis, those are all under COPD," Walsh said recently. "Nobody is aware of this, and it is going to be the third leading cause of death in Canada in no time."

Walsh was the national spokeswoman for COPD Day - Nov. 18 - and is trying to promote a virtual walk across Canada. Exercise, strengthening the lungs, helps prevent disease, so people log their exercise online and it's calculated together to see how far people go.

The goal is to walk across Canada and back 10 times.

Walsh was approached by a friend in St. John's to get involved in the Lung Association.

She said while the lung issues can be equally severe, her doctor treats her family history of heart disease much more seriously.

"You can go weeks without food, you can go days without water and you can only go minutes without air," Walsh said.

One very simple way people can take their health into their own hands is to ask their doctor for a spirometer test.

The simple, cheap device measures lung capacity and flow rates, and can help diagnose COPD.

"One of the things about COPD is that it can't be cured, but it can be halted and you can live quite a reasonable life if you get the proper treatment," Walsh said.

"Unfortunately, the proper treatment is not always available in small places across Canada because the awareness is not always available."

jmcleod@thetelegram.com