Medical Intel

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, has skyrocketed over the past 35 years. Dr. Matthew Schreiber discusses what it means for D.C., and how you can be as healthy as possible if you have the disease.   TRANSCRIPT Intro: MedStar Washington Hospital Center presents Medical Intel where our healthcare team shares health and wellness insights and gives you the inside story on advances in medicine. Host: Thanks for joining us today. We’re talking to Dr. Matthew Schreiber, associate director of the Medical ICU and an attending physician in Pulmonary Disease/Critical Care Medicine at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Welcome, Dr. Schreiber. Dr. Schreiber: Well, thank you for having me. Host: Today we’re talking about a September 2017 report that showed that the number of Americans who died from chronic respiratory diseases, particularly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease known as COPD, skyrocketed over the past 35 years. In 2014, 53 people out of every 100,000 died of a chronic respiratory illness, up