Competition aims to heighten awareness of COPD

DRIVE4COPD, a public health campaign, kicked off a high-profile social media competition on Wednesday led by celebrity ambassadors Danica Patrick and Patty Loveless to see who can get the most people screened for risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) during the two weeks leading up to the Great American Screen Off on Nov. 4.

In the two-week, head-to-head social media contest, Go Daddy and Nationwide Series driver, Danica Patrick, is teaming with NASCAR to take on Grammy Award-winning country music star Patty Loveless and the Country Music Association. Using Twitter, e-mails to fans, Facebook and other tools at their fingertips, each team will encourage their fans and followers to take the screener, share it with loved ones, and educate others about COPD, which affects an estimated 24 million Americans.

"Last year the Great American Screen Off took on four cities to see where we could get the most people screened. This year we're going further and taking it nationwide to help find the millions who may be at risk for COPD and don't know it," said Patrick, whose grandmother suffered from COPD. "My friendly competition with Patty is about making a difference and motivating people to take that first step to find out if they may be at risk, and it can be done right in the privacy of their own home."

COPD includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. It kills more people in the United States each year than breast cancer and diabetes combined, and is the only major leading cause of death that is on the rise; yet as many as half of those who may have the disease remain undiagnosed. People age 35 and older are encouraged to log onto DRIVE4COPD.COM to take a five question screener and determine their risk for this progressive disease.

The Great American Screen Off

The social media competition is part of a series of activities taking place to heighten awareness of COPD, individual risk and the burden on our nation. The competition will culminate on Nov. 4, the official date of the second annual Great American Screen Off, which is believed to be the largest single day dedicated to screening for and raising awareness of COPD.

On this one-day wake-up call to inform the public about the importance of early COPD screening and detection, the DRIVE4COPD partnering organizations are encouraging all Americans to wear the color orange -- the new official color of COPD -- to remind others to be screened and to help heighten awareness. On this day, men and women age 35 and older are encouraged to join the more than 2 million Americans already screened to see if they may be at risk for COPD.