The list of research areas and treatments under analysis mentioned in various sources for COPD includes:
Possibly curable or rare types of COPD include:
Some rare types of COPD include:
Some of the more recent treatments for COPD include:
Treatments to consider for COPD may include:
ADVAIR DISKUS gets the green signal: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Advair Diskus 250/50 (fluticasone propionate 250 mcg and salmeterol 50 mcg inhalation powder) for the reduction of exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who have a history of exacerbations. Two identical one year studies were conducted to evaluate the effect on COPD exacerbations with Advair Diskus 250/50 compared to 50 mcg of salmeterol alone, each given twice daily. A total of 1579 patients with an established history of COPD exacerbations were enrolled. Patients treated with Advair Diskus 250/50 had a 30% reduction in the rate of annual exacerbations compared to salmeterol. Additionally patients treated with Advair had a significantly lower annual rate of exacerbations requiring treatment with oral corticosteroids compared with patients treated with salmeterol. Advair now become the only treatment whaich has FDA approval to reduce COPD exacerbations.
A study completed several years ago examined the use of oxygen therapy for people who, because of COPD, cannot get enough oxygen into their blood by breathing air. This study has determined that continuous oxygen therapy is more beneficial in extending life than giving oxygen only for 12 hours at night.
Another clinical study compared inhalation therapy using a machine which administers medication to the lungs by intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) with one that delivers the medicine by relying on the patient's own breathing. Although home use of IPPB machines is widespread, previous studies had not been able to show conclusively whether they were effective. In this study, 985 ambulatory patients with COPD were randomly assigned to a treatment group which received a bronchodilator aerosol solution by IPPB, or to a control group which received the medication via a compressor nebulizer. The only difference between the two groups was the positive pressure applied by the IPPB. There was no statistically significant difference between the two treatment groups in numbers of deaths, frequency and length of hospitalization, change in lung function tests, or in measurements of quality of life. This study suggests that the use of IPPB devices may be unnecessary.
An intervention trial called the Lung Health Study, which began in 1983, has enrolled approximately 6,000 smokers in a study to determine whether an intervention program incorporating smoking cessation and use of inhaled bronchodilators (to keep air passages open) in men and women at high risk of developing COPD can slow the decline in pulmonary function compared to a group receiving usual care. When this study is completed, it should help to determine the extent to which identification and treatment of asymptomatic subjects with early signs of obstructive lung disease would be useful as a preventive health measure. In addition, the study will test some of the current theories about behavior and smoking cessation. Early results indicate that cigarette smoking may be more harmful to women than to men. Furthermore, smoking cessation results in greater weight gain in women than in men, and to avoid weight gain women are less likely to quit smoking and more likely to revert to their smoking habit. (Source: excerpt from COPD Research: NHLBI)
The following medical news items are relevant to medical research for COPD:
Some of the clinical trials for COPD include:
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