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| | Title: | Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease | | Article: | Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) causes
problems with maximum expiratory (exhaling) air flow
and slows down the forced emptying of the lungs. Those
features do not change much over several months. Signs
of the disease include chronic cough, sputum and,
eventually, severe shortness of breath. Cigarette
smoking is the main factor in COPD development. Up to
600 million people suffers COPD worldwide.
COPD is the fifth leading cause of death and
significant cause of disability worldwide. In the year
2020, COPD might be the third leading cause of death
and the fifth leading cause of morbidity. COPD is
characterized by a chronic inflammatory process in the
wall of the small airways, decreased elastic recoil in
alveoli and destruction of the alveolar attachments
with the walls of the small airways. These changes
lead to airway obstruction, hyperinflation and
abnormal gas exchange. The major mechanism of COPD is
the restrictive problem due to hyperinflation. This
restriction leads to shortness of breath (dyspnea) and
decreased tolerability to exercise. Stopping smoking
is the most effective way to slow the progression of
the condition. The known drugs for COPD do not slow
long-term decline in lung function very much. Current
medications are used to decrease symptoms and reduce
severity of exacerbations. The drugs include
bronchodilators (beta-2-adrenergic agonists,
anticholinergics, and methylxanthines) and inhaled
corticosteroids. Corticosteroids have
anti-inflammatory effect.
COPD is often inadequately treated despite the
numerous existing therapies. Non-adequate treatment
leads to significant disabilities and unbalanced
utilization of health resource.
Activation of inflammatory cells in lungs
significantly contributes to COPD development.
Pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, prolong
inflammatory response, that eventually leads to the
destruction of lung tissue and development of
progressive fibrosis. New drugs, MAPK inhibitors, are
under investigation for the treatment of COPD.
Inflammatory cytokines play significant role in airway
inflammation, and many of the processes are dependent
on the stress-induced MAPK cascade. Soon new p38 MAPK
inhibitors may be developed for the treatment of
pulmonary inflammatory diseases. | | Author: | Aleksandr Kavokin, MD, PhD | | System: | Lungs | | Subject: | COPD | | Abstract: | COPD is the fifth leading cause of death and significant cause of disability worldwide. | | Website: | http://www.kavokin.com | | Time: | 20:40 | | Reference: | http://www.rdoctor.com | | Reference 2: | http://www.sympomat.com |
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Articles by Aleksandr Kavokin, MD, PhD
Doctor-Robot (Free section)