Developments in drugs for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects more than 600 million adults worldwide and accounts for 3 million deaths annually. Approximately 50% of the cases are directly attributable to cigarette smoking; the rest are accounted for by different risk factors, including childhood infections, genetic defects, environmental pollution and biomass exposure. The mainstay of current drug treatment is bronchodilation. Anti-inflammatory drugs are reserved for patients with moderate-to-severe disease. In this article, we will review the current paradigm of COPD pathogenesis and discuss some promising molecular targets that may be modified in the future to improve health outcomes of patients with COPD.
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Tammy Sy
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The Providence Heart and Lung Center, The James Hogg iCAPTURE Center for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, St Paul's Hospital & the Department of Medicine (Respiratory Division), The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. tmui@mrl.ubc.ca
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