Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
What is COPD?
The term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of long-term lung diseases that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It involves a narrowing of the airways that makes it harder for air to get in and out of the lungs.
Chronic bronchitis is inflammation of the airways – the small tubes that take air in and out of the lungs when we breathe – that causes an increase in phlegm production in the airways and coughing. Emphysema is irreversible narrowing of the airways due to damage to the air sacs in the lungs.
Smoking greatly increases a person’s chance of developing COPD. The disease gets worse as time goes on, leading to a poorer quality of life and often heart failure. There is no cure, but drug treatment and oxygen, along with an exercise and education programme called pulmonary rehabilitation, can help to control symptoms. COPD is now the fifth most common cause of death in the UK, killing more than 27,000 people a year. Around 85 per cent of these deaths are caused by smoking.
A snapshot of MRC research into COPD
The MRC’s current studies into COPD include looking for better ways to treat patients with the disease as well as ways to prolong the effectiveness of current therapies. For example:
- Patients with COPD are sometimes treated with steroid drugs, but over time they can become insensitive to these. Professor Peter Barnes at Imperial College London is carrying out a clinical trial to find out whether a drug called theophylline can reverse steroid resistance in COPD patients. And in a second related study, he is investigating the molecular mechanisms of steroid resistance.
- Dr Mick Steiner of Leicester NHS Trust is studying molecular ways to reverse muscle wasting in patients with COPD – a common feature of the disease – and the effects of resistance training and protein supplementation on this.
- Cough is often the first and most persistent symptom of respiratory diseases including COPD and asthma. Professor Maria Belvisi of Imperial College London is studying whether drugs that inhibit sensory nerve activity in the airways also stop the cough reflex.
Useful Links
British Lung Foundation Provides support and information for people with a wide range of lung diseases.
British Thoracic Society A professional body made up of doctors, nurses, scientists and other professionals with an interest in respiratory medicine. It produces guidelines on the treatment of many lung diseases and works to promote education and understanding of respiratory disease.
BMJ Best Treatments: COPD Provides information about which treatments really work and which don't work, based on the best and most up-to-date medical research.
