International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
ReviewNontypeable Haemophilus influenzae in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is predicted to become the third leading cause of death in the world by 2020. It is characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The airflow limitation is usually progressive and associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious particles and gases, most commonly cigarette smoke. ⋯ One possible explanation is that bacterial colonization of smoke-damaged airways, most commonly with nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), perpetuates airway injury and inflammation. Furthermore, COPD has also been identified as an independent risk factor for lung cancer irrespective of concomitant cigarette smoke exposure. In this article, we review the role of NTHi in airway inflammation that may lead to COPD progression and lung cancer promotion.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Severity of COPD at initial spirometry-confirmed diagnosis: data from medical charts and administrative claims.
This study was conducted to determine COPD severity at the time of diagnosis as confirmed by spirometry in patients treated in a US managed care setting. ⋯ The results demonstrate a very low incidence of early-stage diagnosis, confirmed by a pulmonary function test, of COPD in a large US sample and support calls for increased screening for COPD and treatment upon diagnosis.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Excessive visceral fat accumulation in advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Previous studies have suggested links between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease, and abdominal obesity. Although abdominal visceral fat is thought to be associated with cardiovascular risk factors, the degree of visceral fat accumulation in patients with COPD has not been directly studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the abdominal visceral fat accumulation and the association between visceral fat and the severity and changes in emphysema in COPD patients. ⋯ COPD patients have excessive visceral fat, which is retained in patients with more advanced stages of COPD or severe emphysema despite the absence of obesity.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Outcome of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients with severely impaired health status.
Effects of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with severely impaired health status are poorly documented since these patients are usually excluded from clinical trials. This retrospective, observational study aims to study the impact of disease on health status and the effects of PR on COPD patients referred to a tertiary center for PR in The Netherlands. ⋯ The present study provides data to indicate that COPD patients may substantially benefit from rehabilitation in a tertiary pulmonary rehabilitation center, despite a severely impaired health status and high level of health-care utilization, in which prior treatment in primary and secondary care have failed to improve health status. Individual rehabilitation responses can only partially be predicted on the basis of baseline characteristics. Consequently, no firm conclusions can be drawn from this study with respect to the selection of candidates that could be deemed eligible for this rehabilitation program when entering the program.
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Visual and auditory analysis of respiratory sound signals promises improved detection of certain types of lung diseases. LabVIEW software was used to design a system that monitors the respiratory activity of the patient. The program developed calculates the respiratory rate, displays the time expanded waveform of the lung sound, and computes the fast Fourier transform and short-time Fourier transform to present the power spectrum and spectrogram respectively. These parameters are transmitted synchronously to the remote station using the Internet for online monitoring of the patient.