COPD Patients Breathe Easier with Combo Therapy

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, might breathe a little easier with a new combination therapy.

COPD is an umbrella term encompassing the diseases emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Patients with the condition are often short of breath. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, surpassed only by heart disease, cancer and stroke.

In a study conducted by researchers from UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, COPD patients who were treated with nebulized formoterol fumarate and another treatment called tiotropium, experienced fewer COPD flare-ups than those who received a placebo or treatment with tiotropium alone. The combination therapy required a once daily treatment of tritropium and two daily treatments with nebulized formoterol fumarate. A nebulizer is a small device that turns liquid medicine into a mist patients breathe in through a face mask.

All of the patients underwent six weeks of treatment with the drugs. Nebulized formoterol fumarate is currently available in Perforomist™ Inhalation Solution, a medication made by Dey, L.P.

“For the patients in this study, adjunctive use of nebulized formoterol fumarate and tiotropium showed significant improvements in lung function over use of tiotropium alone,” study author Donald P. Tashkin, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.C.C.P., was quoted as saying. “For physicians, Perforomist™ Inhalation Solution and commonly prescribed long-acting anticholinergics, such as tiotropium, offers a new and valuable treatment option for COPD patients with moderate to severe manifestations of the disease.”

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Presented at CHEST 2007, the 73rd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago, Oct. 20 - 25, 2007

[email protected]
Copyright © 2007 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
2745 West Fairbanks Avenue
Winter Park, Florida 32789
(407) 740-0789