Active clinical trials for "Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive"

The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and direct healthcare costs of managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in primary care patients with evidence of COPD who either initiate inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy, or have an increase in their ICS dose, as hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) beclometasone dipropionate (BDP) (hereafter Qvar®), CFC-BDP (hereafter BDP) and fluticasone propionate (FP) via pressurised metered-dose inhalers.

To investigate possible problems or questions in safety and effectiveness of salmeterol and fluticasone in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (bronchitis chronic / emphysema). In this special drug use investigation, onset of pneumonia shall be handled as the priority investigation item.

Proprioceptive weighting changes may explain differences in postural control performance. In addition, the respiratory movement has a disturbing effect on postural balance. Postural balance seems to be impaired in individuals with respiratory disorders. Increased risk of falling is reported in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Besides the essential role of respiration, the diaphragm may also play an important role in the control of the trunk and postural balance. The aim of the study is to clarify whether proprioceptive postural control is impaired in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

This study is aiming at evaluating the characteristics of particle emission in subjects with different stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared with healthy smokers.

Evaluation of OPG level as disease markers has also been reported. It has been showed that patients with coronary artery disease had higher serum OPG levels than healthy volunteers. Moreover, serum OPG levels correlate with the number of stenotic coronary arteries

Hypothesis: Hospital based, comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation of patients with COPD in GOLD stage IV can be optimized by application of nocturnal non invasive ventilation. This hypotheses shall be tested by an observational trial, comparing rehabilitation effects of a prospectively observed group receiving non invasive ventilation, compared wiht a historical control group of patients who did received the same treatment without non invasive ventilation.

The hypotheses of this study are that: Production and release of inflammatory substances called leukotrienes are increased during heart surgery with use of a heart-lung machine in humans; The increase in these leukotrienes levels after heart surgery is higher in patients with bronchitis and/or emphysema than in patients without previous history of lung disease; Levels of leukotrienes are directly correlated with worsening of lung function during and after heart surgery.

The main objective is to study important factors in the patho-physiology of osteoporosis in patients with COPD. Therefore, the investigators will study biological markers in plasma and urine and correlate them to markers of bone turnover and clinical data.

ADL training of copd patients results in better execution of activities of daily living.

This project aims to characterize the independent effect of domestic endotoxin exposure on health status, as well as pulmonary and systemic inflammation, in former smokers with COPD. Positive findings from this study would be clinically relevant, as they would provide evidence to support aggressive reduction of ongoing endotoxin exposure in patients with COPD. The investigators also hope to make a methodological advance in the field of endotoxin exposure assessment by elucidating whether settled dust and/or airborne endotoxin measurements are the more relevant exposure of interest in epidemiological studies of respiratory disease. To fulfill the specific aims, the investigators will conduct a longitudinal study, including 75 former smokers with COPD. All subjects will have indoor air monitoring, in-home settled dust collections, home inspections as well as assessments of health status, quality of life (QOL), lung function and pulmonary and systemic inflammation.