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Seniors Undertreated for Asthma, and Many Skip Inhalers: Study
Posted 1 May 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 1 – Asthma often is misdiagnosed and undertreated in older people, with only 53 percent of those with asthma using prescribed inhalers, a small new study suggests. The study included 77 people, including people both with and without asthma, who were over age 60. Of those with asthma, 89 percent also had allergies to mold, animals or dust mites. The asthma patients were more likely than those without asthma to have hay fever, arthritis, diabetes, higher levels of pain and poor general health than those without asthma. The study appears in the May issue of the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. "Those with asthma reported more infections, physician visits and impact on health, yet only half are regularly treating the disease," lead author and allergist Dr. Andrew Smith said in a journal news release. "Patients should regularly carry and take prescribed asthma ... Read more
Related support groups: Asthma, Albuterol, Symbicort, Asthma -- Maintenance, Spiriva, Fluticasone, Advair Diskus, Flovent, Combivent, Epinephrine, Qvar, Asthma -- Acute, Ventolin, Xopenex, ProAir HFA
Rapid Asthma Treatment in ER May Prevent Admission
Posted 6 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, April 6 – Rapid treatment with asthma medications seems to help reduce hospitalizations among children with asthma, a new study finds. Canadian researchers analyzed data from 406 children and found that those with moderate or severe asthma attacks who received systemic corticosteroids within 75 minutes of arriving at a hospital emergency department were 16 percent less likely to be admitted to the hospital. Corticosteroids reduce inflammation. The findings illustrate the importance of rapidly identifying and treating children with asthma when they arrive at an emergency department, the researchers said. The study was recently published online in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine. "We knew that corticosteroids could help avoid hospital admissions and relapses. However, just how delays between emergency department admission and administration of the treatment impacted ... Read more
Related support groups: Asthma, Albuterol, Symbicort, Spiriva, Fluticasone, Advair Diskus, Flovent, Combivent, Epinephrine, Qvar, Asthma -- Acute, Ventolin, Xopenex, ProAir HFA, Entocort
Asthma Meds Likely Safe During Pregnancy: Study
Posted 20 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Jan. 20 – A new study found no statistically significant link between asthma medication use during pregnancy and common birth defects. However, the study did find a positive association between some rare birth defects and mothers with asthma, and potentially with their medication use. But, the researchers couldn't tease out whether the problem was a loss of oxygen from less than well-controlled asthma or an effect of medications. "Worsening asthma is a risk to the mom and the fetus. Hypoxia (a lack of oxygen) we know is a problem for a developing fetus. And, the potential risk they found here is very small. Even if it turns out to be a true increase, the risk is so small. This study raises more questions than it answers," said Dr. Natalie Meirowitz, chief of the division of maternal fetal medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y. What's most ... Read more
Related support groups: Asthma, Albuterol, Symbicort, Asthma -- Maintenance, Spiriva, Fluticasone, Advair Diskus, Flovent, Combivent, Epinephrine, Qvar, Asthma -- Acute, Ventolin, Xopenex, ProAir HFA
New Guidelines for Spotting, Treating COPD Released
Posted 1 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Aug. 1 – Four of the world's leading pulmonary associations have issued new guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, one of the world's leading killers. While the recommendations are based on more recent studies of the disorder, they differ little from previous guidelines and are meant largely to emphasize how critical it is to manage the disease to reduce hospitalizations, exacerbations and deaths, said lead author Dr. Amir Qaseem, director of clinical policy in the medical education division of the American College of Physicians, one of the four sponsoring organizations. "We're repeating the message. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the third leading cause of death and . . . the number keeps going up. In 2007, it was the fifth leading cause of death," said Qaseem. "Many patients are still not getting the appropriate care." ... Read more
Related support groups: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Albuterol, Spiriva, Triamcinolone, Fluticasone, Flovent, Epinephrine, Qvar, Ventolin, Xopenex, ProAir HFA, Entocort, Mometasone, Budesonide, Ipratropium
Researchers Question Safety of Mist Inhalers for Delivering Common Drug for Chronic Lung Disease
Posted 15 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
BALTIMORE, June 14, 2011 - People who use a mist inhaler to deliver a drug widely prescribed in more than 55 countries to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be 52 percent more likely to die, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests. The findings, published by BMJ, the British medical journal, raise concerns not only about the mist inhaler — a device that delivers the soluble form of the medication tiotropium — but also about the drug itself. The mist inhaler has not yet gained regulatory approval in the United States, but the drug in its powdered form is commonly used to treat COPD here. “What we think is going on is that the mist inhaler is delivering a higher concentration of tiotropium than it should be and that may be increasing the risk of death,” says Sonal Singh, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University Sc ... Read more
Related support groups: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Spiriva, Spiriva HandiHaler, Tiotropium
Certain COPD Meds Linked to Urinary Troubles in Men
Posted 24 May 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, May 23 – New research suggests that a certain class of drugs used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) boosts the risk that male patients will be unable to urinate. The disease, which makes breathing difficult due to inflammation and blockage in the body's air passages, affects an estimated 10 percent of people aged 40 and older. A class of drugs called "inhaled anticholinergic" medications are used to treat the conditions, but there are concerns about their side effects. These drugs include tiotropium (Spiriva), ipratropium bromide (brand name Atrovent) or Combivent, which is ipratropium combined with albuterol. In the new Canadian study, Dr. Anne Stephenson of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and colleagues examined medical records from people in Ontario, aged 66 and older, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Of the more than 565,000 ... Read more
Related support groups: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Spiriva, Combivent, Ipratropium, Atrovent, Spiriva HandiHaler, Tiotropium, DuoNeb, Atrovent HFA, Albuterol/Ipratropium
Leading COPD Drug May Raise Chances of Heart Trouble
Posted 7 Jan 2010 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 7 – New research suggests that the drug ipratropium bromide (Atrovent), used widely among patients who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), may raise the risk of heart attack and heart failure, while a separate study of the COPD drug tiotropium (Spiriva) shows it may well lower the risk of heart problems and death. The inhaled medications are the most commonly prescribed daily treatments for COPD, a respiratory illness that's the fourth-largest killer in the United States. The two studies are published in the January issue of Chest. "The short-acting form [Atrovent] seems to increase cardiovascular risk, while the long-acting form [Spiriva] seems to decrease it," said Dr. Norman H. Edelman, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. "It is important to point out, however, that the difference is an indirect inference," he added. "To prove beyond ... Read more
Related support groups: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Spiriva, Ipratropium, Atrovent, Spiriva HandiHaler, Tiotropium, Atrovent HFA
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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Maintenance