SUDDENLY finding your-self unable to catch your breath must be a frightening experience. However, it’s something with which thousands of people with the lung condition Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease have to cope every day.

The disease covers a range of chronic chest conditions, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

At its most severe, it causes breathlessness, persistent coughing and restricts the ability to do even the most commonplace, everyday tasks.

Sufferer Barry Chawner, from Grays, explains: “It’s difficult as you can’t necessarily do the things you used to do and if you can do them, they take a lot longer. It is restrictive.

“A lot of people suffer from anxiety as a result – that feeling of being breathless and not being able to catch your breath can be scary.

“It’s frightening when you can’t breathe, but my way of coping is not to accept it is frightening, but is simply your brain telling you you need to breathe.

“If you become frightened, the anxiety just makes it harder to breathe normally – it’s a vicious circle. If you are puffing and panting, you do not get the oxygen you need, so you have to train yourself to breathe slowly.”

In south west Essex, 5,965 people have been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – but 7,000 more could be living with it, without realising.

As part of the British Lung Foundation’s Breathe Easy Week, NHS South West Essex is encouraging local people to think about the health of their lungs.

As a long-term condition, the disease is linked to smoking – but not exclusively caused by it – and most commonly affects people aged at least 40. Other factors, such as exposure to asbestos, carbon and dusty industrial environments, are also believed to contribute to what is the sixth most common cause of death in England and Wales.

In south west Essex alone, it has claimed 846 lives between 2004 and 2007, yet relatively few people seem to know about the condition.

The local trust is working to provide more information and support and improve care for sufferers This includes more effective diagnosis, improving the Home Oxygen Service, which supplies bottles of air to patients, and running more rehab exercise classes for people with respiratory problems.

Barry, 68, founding chairman of a new support group, Breathe Easy Thurrock, says: “It took me four years to be diagnosed, as it was mistaken for other conditions. When I was diagnosed, in 1998, I wasn’t given any more information about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

“The way I found out was to get on my computer and search for it. The search results were a shock.”

For many people, fear of getting breathless and the impact of the weather on their ability to breathe can limit their activity or even leave them housebound.

Barry says the NHS’s Expert Patient Programme, which uses long-term sufferers to tutor others with similar conditions, helped him to cope with his symptoms.

He explains: “At the start of the programme, I believed I shouldn’t walk more than 50 yards at a time. “By the end of the course, I had the confidence to walk a quarter of a mile around the field behind my house.”

Barry’s new Breathe Easy support group has been set up with cash from the trust and guidance from the British Lung Foundation. A second, similar group is now running in Wickford.

Retired office manager Barry says support groups like his are crucial in allowing patients to help others in the same boat.

He explains: “People have different techniques for coping.

“We have speakers on different issues, such as respiratory nurses, so people can get more information and ask questions.

“We also get a cup of tea, which can provide a wonderful distraction.”

* For more information on the work of NHS South West Essex to help people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease to cope with their condition, call 01268 245760.