Thanks to DEBORAH, the sky’s the limit

COPD doesn’t have to be an obstacle

When Princeton scientist Gregory Olsen hurtled back to earth this fall on the Soviet space shuttle, he made significant medical history.

Olsen has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a lung condition that affects millions of Americans. His ability to weather the rigors of space and the demanding training program followed by the Russian cosmonauts not only breaks new medical ground, it offers hope and inspiration to fellow sufferers that life can be lived fully, even with a debilitating lung condition.

Olsen, a self-made millionaire and scientist, is also an ex-smoker who’d smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for 15 years, but quit more than 30 years ago. In 2003, he paid the $20 million fee to travel into space, then began a rigorous two-year training program.

But first he tracked down the best heart and lung facility and the best pulmonologist he could find. That hunt led him to the Deborah Heart and Lung Center, where he came under the care of David Murphy, M.D., Deborah’s chair of Pulmonology.

"I knew very early on in his treatment that he was considering going into space," Dr. Murphy says. "I had my reservations about his plans in the beginning."

Dr. Murphy characterized Olsen’s COPD as moderate. Olsen continues to take a regular regimen of medicines to manage his lung condition. "As far as I know," Dr. Murphy says, "he was the first person ever to go into space with these conditions. He was anything but a ‘tourist.’ He is 60 years old and breaking new ground for ordinary people."

For millions of Americans with COPD, much of day-to-day living is centered on managing the condition. Olsen is a shining example of how to beat the odds. "I would never have imagined someone with his condition traveling into space," says Dr. Murphy. "His determination and bravery should be an inspiration to many."

For millions of Americans with COPD, much of day-to-day living is centered on managing the condition. Olsen is a shining example of how to beat the odds.