KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Loni Anderson’s parents never saw the age of 60.

A smoking-related lung disease ended both of their lives early — her father at age 54, her mother at 59.

Now, the actress best known for “WKRP in Cincinnati” tours the country, raising awareness for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease — more commonly known as COPD, chronic bronchitis or emphysema. Thursday, Anderson was at the Kansas University Medical Center, meeting with doctors and patients with the disease.

“It was very emotional for me to lose them both to something like that,” she said. “My dad even missed me being a blonde. I was a brunette back then. He missed ‘WKRP.'”

Five years ago, the 57-year-old actress started working with the National Lung Health Education Program, based in Denver. She visits about five cities a year, doing interviews and giving speeches about COPD.

She was on seven radio programs Thursday morning and will speak tonight at a national cardiology convention.

“When you gain celebrity status for anything, you have to be responsible with it,” Anderson said. “One way of being responsible with that gift is doing things like this.”

Anderson now is the star of “The Mullets,” a sitcom on UPN.

About 10 million people have been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, though a Centers for Disease Control study estimated more than 24 million people have the disease. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which almost always is spurred by smoking, is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States.

But Dr. Dennis Doherty of the University of Kentucky Medical Center, who tours with Anderson, said the government was funding more Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease research, and drug and exercise therapies are helping patients regain lung capacity.

“The future is bright,” he said. “We’ve reached a tipping point in COPD.”

That comes as good news to John Tyhurst, who was diagnosed with the disease four months ago. Tyhurst, who lives in Gladstone, Mo., was among the patients Thursday afternoon who met with Anderson.

He quit smoking Sept. 2 after 44 years, averaging three packs a day.

“I came just to get more knowledge about the disease,” he said. “It’s good for people like (Anderson) to get out and do these sorts of things.”