Active clinical trials for "Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive"

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease,osteoporosis, muscle wasting and diabetes mellitus. Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in such patients and it may be related to excess stiffening of the walls of major arteries, such as the aorta, and it has been suggested to represent premature aging. However, there is little known of the development of these problems, which were previously considered to be due to smoking and which is now known not to be the only factor. The investigators will study a large group of patients with mild to very severe airflow obstruction based on the NICE 2010 classification of severity and a matched comparator group free of COPD. This study involves three assessments of the development of the complications of COPD over a five year period. The key measure will be the rate of change in the aortic wall stiffness, an accepted indicator of the risk of heart disease. Changes in wall stiffness will be related to the severity of lung disease; other known cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, increased blood cholesterol and to cardiovascular events including heart attacks and death; and to the presence of other complications, such as osteoporosis, muscle wasting and diabetes mellitus. These measures will be analysed in the context of changes in bodywide inflammation and metabolic function and the changes in the rate of ageing. This increased knowledge of interacting factors in the complications of COPD is likely to lead to studies of treatments to avoid their development.

Reports suggest that the Medicaid population includes a higher percentage of smokers than the general population. A high prevalence of smokers in a population is likely to lead to a higher burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Few studies have evaluated the economic burden of COPD in a Medicaid population. The objective of this observational, retrospective cohort study is to estimate the economic burden of COPD in subjects with a COPD diagnosis who are enrolled in Medicaid and are receiving maintenance treatment covered by Medicaid. Specifically, the null hypothesis for the primary outcome measure is that no difference is observed in all-cause costs between subjects with and without COPD. The test hypothesis is that there is a difference in all-cause costs between subjects with and without COPD. Secondary outcomes to be evaluated include all-cause resource use and COPD-related costs for the COPD cohort. The study uses a medical and pharmacy administrative claims database called MarketScan Medicaid Database that contains the medical, surgical, and prescription drug experience of nearly 7 million Medicaid recipients. This analysis will use data from 8 states.

This is a multi-center, prospective, non-interventional study that aims to evaluate in daily clinical practice the possible correlation between patient perception of the ability to perform morning activities and the physician's assessment during a regular physical exam in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), group C and D.

The purpose of this qualitative work is to inform the content and structure of a new screening measure for identifying undiagnosed at-risk COPD cases in primary care and support content validity of the measure. This work will build on the results of a comprehensive literature review and data mining analyses by identifying the symptomatic and health event experiences of at-risk and newly diagnosed patients, as described by the patients themselves. Specific objectives are as follows: Objective 1: To elicit concepts and symptom descriptions of COPD from patients with a recent diagnosis of COPD and those without a diagnosis but with risk factors for the disease. The qualitative information obtained in these focus groups will be used to develop a new questionnaire for identifying undiagnosed at-risk COPD cases in various clinic settings. Objective 2: To review the new questionnaire with a new set of participants with a recent COPD diagnosis or those at risk for COPD to ensure that: (a) the instructions are clear, (b) the content of each question is appropriate and understandable to participants, (c) the intended connotation of each questions is consistent with participants' interpretation or assigned meaning, and (d) to assure that content is not seen as redundant across items. This will be done through one-on-one cognitive interviews. Objective 3: To gather data on the ease/difficulty of peak flow meter use by people without or with a new diagnosis of COPD and the consistency of readings between electronic and mechanical readings in these patients. This information will be used to inform the development of peak-flow meter instructions for use as part of the screening methodology.

This is a longitudinal observational study to identify and validate protein biomarkers for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases) and cardiovascular disease in smokers and ex-smokers attending primary care. Special emphasize is to correlate biomarkers to different phases of COPD, to progression of the disease, and to treatment of the disease. Furthermore, linkage between COPD, cardiovascular disease, and lung cancer will be investigated by identifying protein biomarkers.

This prescription-event monitoring study was based upon 'event' monitoring and so capable of identifying signals of events that might be associated with the use of tiotropium, which none of the participating general practitioners (GPs) suspected to be an adverse drug reaction. The methodology of this study readily permits follow up of specific events and the obtaining of additional data as appropriate.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of endothelial dysfunction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The objectives were to collect information on vital status and pulmonary medication use at the predicted exit date for patients who participated in two one-year trials and withdrew prematurely. The primary objective was to ascertain the vital status (dead or alive) of these patients in the time interval between the patients' withdrawal from the trial and their predicted exit date (i.e: 48 weeks from first intake of randomised treatment + 30 days). The secondary objective was to collect information on classes of pulmonary medication and some other specified pulmonary interventions used by these prematurely discontinued patients at the time of their predicted exit date (i.e 48 weeks from the first intake of randomised treatment + 30 days) or at date of death (if this occurred during the time interval of interest, i.e 48 weeks from the first intake of randomised treatment + 30 days).

This is a cross-sectional, observational study, investigating the point prevalence of Airflow Limitation in current or former smokers with established ischemic heart disease. The study will recruit up to 3000 patients from cardiology clinics at hospitals across Europe.

The sensitivity of a person's cough reflex can be measured by getting them to breathe in (inhale) irritant chemicals. There are different methods by which subjects are asked to inhale these chemicals, either by taking one deep breath in, or by asking them to just continue to take a number of breaths. The purpose of this clinical research study is to see if the coughing responses are different in healthy people and people with respiratory problems that make them cough when they are given these chemicals in these two methods.