PHA Canada Marks World PH Day with Release of a Personal, and Informational, Video

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association of Canada will join more than 80 other organizations worldwide to mark World Pulmonary Hypertension Day, an international event that raising awareness of pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Celebrated on May 5 every year since 2012, World PH Day focuses on the importance of improving life quality and expectancy for the more than 25 million people living with PH worldwide. Patient associations participate in World PH Day by organizing national awareness campaigns and PHA Day educational activities for this often-misdiagnosed disease, and to celebrate those living with PH.

PHA Canada is marking World PH Day 2016 with the release of a new, 5-minute 17-second video describing the main symptoms of pulmonary hypertension, and its impact on people with this rare disease.

The video features pulmonary hypertension patients and caregivers from British Columbia, explaining how PH impacts their lives on a daily basis. It also encourages viewers experiencing any of the symptoms outlined to discuss with their doctor the possibility that they may be PH-related.

The video was produced in partnership with the Vancouver film cooperative Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society and filmmaker Tyler Gamsby of Creek Water Media.

Beginning on May 5, the video will be available online on the following channels: PHA Canada website, www.phacanada.ca/world-ph-day, and YouTube, www.youtube.com/user/phacanada. It will also be featured on Facebook @PHACanada and Twitter: @PHACanada.

PHA Canada is a federally registered charity whose mission is to empower the Canadian PH community through awareness, advocacy, education, research, and patient support. PHA Canada has been working to improve the lives of Canadians affected by PH since 2008, and also celebrates World PH Day with its “Paint Canada Purple” campaign, illuminating landmarks nationwide in its periwinkle blue theme color. For more information, visit  www.phacanada.ca/paintcanadapurple and www.worldphday.org.

Pulmonary hypertension — or pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) — is a rare, complex, and serious lung disease. Progressive and potentially fatal, PH is characterized by high blood pressure (hypertension) in the lungs, leading to enlargement and weakness of the right-side of the heart, a particularly serious type of heart failure. PH can strike people of any age, sex, social, or ethnic background. Difficult to diagnose because it shares many of its symptoms with other conditions, PH is often misdiagnosed, especially in its early stages. This is an issue of crucial importance, because without treatment a PH patient’s average life expectancy is less than three years.

PHA Canada says that about 5,000 Canadians have been diagnosed with PH, but it estimates as many as 10,000 may actually be affected by the condition. Although there is no cure for PH, available treatments are helping many people to live longer and healthier lives.

For more information, visit www.phacanada.ca/en/about-ph.

Sources:
PHA Canada
World PH Day