A RESEARCH clinic in Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup is appealing for people to be screened for a lung disease to help bring medical breakthroughs for sufferers.

Company MeDiNova, is looking for men and women of all ages, smokers and non-smokers, to help come forward so they can identify individuals at risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Statistics reveal there are about 900,000 people in the UK diagnosed with the potentially lethal disease but the number of undiagnosed cases is thought to be more than two million - with suffers writing their symptoms off as ‘smoker’s cough’.

The chances of developing COPD increase the more a person smokes and the longer they have smoked.

MeDiNova's chief executive Kumar Muthalagappan said: "Screening for illnesses such as COPD forms a vital part of our work as it helps us build a picture and gain knowledge and information on the scale of the health problems faced by our society.

"This in turn helps shape future treatment of patients for their condition."

For more information, call 0203 301 3000, or email info@medinovaresearch.com