Health care professionals from the University of Nebraska Medical Center will provide free lung disease screenings at Husker Harvest Days, Sept. 13-15 in Grand Island in the hospitality tent. Lung function tests and free testing for a hereditary cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), called alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, will be available.
The alpha 1 screening is for those with a family history of COPD, abnormal pulmonary function tests and/or a prior diagnosis of COPD. The test normally costs about $100. If the deficiency is caught early, patients can take lifesaving medications.
Susanna Von Essen, M.D., professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine in the UNMC College of Medicine, said alpha 1 deficiency is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. COPD can cause coughing that produces large amounts of mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and other symptoms.
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD, but long-term exposure to other lung irritants, such as grain dust, working in animal confinement facilities or welding fumes also may contribute to COPD.
This year, Allison Krutsinger, from the Tri Valley Health System in Cambridge, will also be at the UNMC booth conducting screenings and talking about the importance of getting the alpha 1 deficiency screening. She lost her father to the disease 15 years ago. A simple blood test could have saved his life.
Those who stop by the tent also will receive free respirator masks that can minimize exposure to potentially hazardous materials. Physicians, respiratory therapists and nurse practitioners also will use spirometers to test lung function. Results will be shared immediately and farmers will be referred to their physicians for follow-up.
Husker Harvest Days, located six miles west of Grand Island on Husker Highway, is considered to be one of the top farm shows in the country.
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