John was given 18 months to live. Twenty years later, this is his advice

John Ruttle can only walk a few steps before he starts to feel a great weight on his chest.

“You’re having trouble getting the air in, and you’re not even worried about exhaling,” he said. “You just feel like there’s something there grabbing you in the chest, nearly all the time.

“These days I’m lucky to get out to the letterbox.”

Twenty years ago, John Ruttle was given 18 months to live. On Tuesday, he watched his grandson’s graduation. Credit: Rhett Wyman

It wasn’t until his 50s that Ruttle’s family finally convinced him to get his persistent cough checked. His doctor diagnosed him with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and gave him 18 months to live. He is now 78.

The disease kills more than 7000 people every year, but doctors say only half of the estimated 640,000 living with COPD know they have it.

A new diagnosis and treatment standard will be distributed to doctors in GP clinics and hospitals across the country from Thursday, in a bid to boost diagnosis rates and keep people out of hospital.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive and incurable lung condition where airflow is limited, and the airway inflamed.

Some people with COPD have emphysema (damage to the lung’s air sacs) in addition to chronic bronchitis (inflammation of the bronchi).

The disease can only be diagnosed with a spirometry lung function test, which involves the patient blowing as hard as possible into a tube.

But since the pandemic, the number of GPs offering the test has dropped due to concerns about the aerosols created during the testing process.

“That’s a huge problem because if someone’s in a regional or remote area, going to the GP is actually how they access the diagnostic test they need,” said Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood, the president-elect of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand.

The new clinical standard was developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and is the first of its kind focusing on a respiratory condition.

The disease is estimated to cause more than 50,000 avoidable emergency department visits each year.

Five steps to manage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD):

1. Accurate diagnosis: Have a spirometry (breathing) test so you get the right treatment.
2. Quit smoking: Seek help to quit smoking or vaping to improve your lung health.
3. Action plan: Get a COPD action plan so you know what to do if symptoms worsen.
4. Pulmonary rehab: Join a lung rehabilitation program to keep moving and ease symptoms.
5. Manage medicines: Know your medicines and how to use your inhalers.

Dr Lee Fong, the commission’s medical adviser and a GP in the Hunter region, said getting an accurate diagnosis meant patients could make the changes they needed to improve their lung health, and access medications and action plans tailored to them.

“There’s a heap of different [asthma and COPD] puffers … and so getting on to the right ones is really important,” he said. “That’s the point of the clinical care standard … to reduce the horrible symptoms that they might be experiencing, and to enable them to just get out and do what they want to do.”

Ruttle watched his grandson graduate university on Tuesday. “Once you’re told you’ve got something, just really make sure you know what it is,” he said. “Because it’s a complete different lifestyle you’ve got to live.”

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