Learn how to keep breathing easy as you age

default-hero-image

Researchers from McMaster are teaming up with The Lung Association and the Breathing as One Campaign for Lung Research for a public event to increase awareness about lung diseases, what can be done to prevent and treat such diseases, and what research is telling us about lung health.

Lung health issues specific to older adults will be the main focus of discussion at a café scientifique on Thursday, November 27, entitled Breathing Easy: Lung Health is Good Health for Older Adults. The panel discussion will feature insights from three McMaster researchers with expertise on diseases of the lungs, and from the Lung Association’s director of respiratory health programs.

The event will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the McMaster Innovation Park, and is open to everyone. It will also be available through live webstreaming. The audience will have ample opportunity to ask specific questions of the panel of experts following their presentations.

Lung disease is one of the most prevalent and costly health issues faced in Canada. One in five Canadians has some type of lung disease, lung cancer kills more people than breast, ovarian, colon and prostate cancers combined, and it is estimated that chronic lung diseases costs the Canadian economy $12 billion.

The event has been organized in conjunction with National Lung Month, being observed in November.

Presenters at the Café Scientifique are:

  • Dawn Bowdish, associate professor at McMaster and Canada Research Chair in Aging and Immunity, who will talk about pneumonia and its effect on chronic inflammatory diseases in older adults;
  • Gerard Cox, professor in the Department of Medicine whose research interests focus on disease development, and strategies for diagnosis and therapy, who will discuss research and treatment options for pulmonary fibrosis;
  • Carl Richards, professor in the McMaster Immunology Research Centre who researches how the lung copes with chronic inflammation and the relationship between cancer and inflammation, who will discuss his research on lung cancer; and
  • Carole Madeley, who is responsible for the delivery of several asthma programs funded by the provincial ministry of health, as well as The Lung Association-funded BreathWorks program, and other respiratory programs that are offered across the province of Ontario.

The café scientifique will be moderated by Dr. Parminder Raina, lead principal investigator for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and Canada Research Chair in GeroScience.

The live webcast of the event can be accessed here, 15 minutes prior to the start of the presentations.

Related Stories