Area residents with lung diseases and their families participate in an open forum with pulmonary experts at the Public Advisory Roundtable’s fifth annual “Breathing Better with the ATS,” held on Saturday at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.
On Saturday, the Society’s Public Advisory Roundtable (PAR) hosted its fifth annual “Breathing Better with the ATS” forum, at which attendees had the opportunity to network with lung disease patients, as well as with clinicians and researchers who specialize in the fields of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. The forum, which was held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, focused on patient empowerment and was open to patients and their families, representatives of public interest organizations, members of the media and the general public.
This is the second year that the “Breathing Better with the ATS” program featured an additional segment called “Meet-the-Experts.”
“Prior to the forum’s main talks in the afternoon, patients had the opportunity to personally meet leading researchers and clinicians who diagnose and treat a wide range of lung diseases, critical illnesses and sleep disorders,” said Teresa Barnes, who is chair of ATS PAR and vice president for patient outreach and advocacy at the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis. “Patients were also encouraged to talk with one another and share their experiences with lung disease.”
Some of the prominent ATS members who volunteered to meet patients at this event included:
| • | Sleep apnea: Michael Coppola, MD |
| • | Pulmonary fibrosis: Greg Cosgrove, MD |
| • | Sarcoidosis: Robert Baughman, MD; Lisa Maier, MD, MSPH; Daniel Culver, DO; Milton Rossman, MD |
| • | Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome: Bernadette Gochuico, MD |
| • | Lung cancer: Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD |
| • | Children’s interstitial lung disease: Robin Deterding, MD |
At the “Breathing Better” forum, five panelists discussed ways in which patients could become more empowered and take control of their health.
Stephen Rennard, MD, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, discussed new treatments on the horizon from a host of lung diseases. “New therapies will include better versions of what is already available, as well as new treatments that will address problems that have not been addressed before,” said Dr. Rennard, who is an expert on COPD. “The COPD patient, for example, should hope for a true cure that will restore lost function. Therapy will become much more personalized, so that patients can receive treatment that is tailored to their specific needs and sensitivities.”
Jill Ohar, MD, of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, spoke about women and lung disease. “While women are often regarded as the hysterical sex by healthcare providers, there are several anatomic and physiologic reasons why woman are affected by lung diseases differently than men,” she noted. “Among these reasons are size and differing growth, hormonal and aging patterns.”
Other panelists included Keene Jorgensen, a COPD patient-advocate for the Colorado Society for Respiratory Care; Bart Celli, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who talked about the prevalence of respiratory diseases in the U.S. and around the world; and Gail Weinmann, MD, of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, who discussed the need for more lung disease research.
“Research supported by the NHLBI and others today is laying the groundwork for better treatments tomorrow, just as today’s treatments are heavily based upon past research,” Dr. Weinmann said.