Active clinical trials for "Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive"

To obtain further information on the prescribing pattern and therapeutic long term value in patients suffering from moderate or severs Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease under conditions of daily practice

The main aim of pulmonary rehabilitation is to improve the quality of life of patients that have been diagnosed with chronic lung disease. The challenge for pulmonary rehabilitation is that many patients do not complete their agreed or prescribed training targets which may be related to the way pulmonary rehabilitation is delivered. There is a belief among doctors and other healthcare professionals delivering pulmonary rehabilitation care that patients who are working together as part of a group may better accomplish their agreed training targets (intervention). The intervention aims to encourage members of the group to interact and support each other during the rehabilitation sessions in order to attain agreed pulmonary rehabilitation goals

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)-patients (caused by smoking-level) and Alpha-1-Antitrypsin-deficiency patients showed different developments during rehabilitation in regard to improvement of 6-minute-walking distance. The aim of this study is to investigate differences between training adaptations in COPD-patients and Alpha-1-deficiency patients. Both groups take part in a standardized multimodal 3-week-rehabilitation with strength and endurance training. In addition to conventional diagnostic procedures, muscle biopsies from the M. vastus lateralis will be conducted before and after rehabilitation program followed by biochemical, histochemical and immunohistochemical analysis of the probes.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronicle inflammatory disease with a non reversible diminution of the airway flow. COPD is caused most commonly from tobacco smoking, which triggers an abnormal inflammatory response in the lung. Worldwide, COPD ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in 1990. It is projected to be the fourth leading cause of death worldwide by 2030 due to an increase in smoking rates and demographic changes in many countries. COPD is responsible for 16000 deaths per year in France, 100 000 hospitalizations per year and the health care expenditure of COPD in France is 3.5 billion of Euros. Classical markers of the disease severity, the forced expiratory volume in one second, poorly correlates with dyspnea and prognosis. Therefore, many studies focused on the control of breathing in an attempt to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the progression of the disease. Breathing control is enhanced in patients with COPD due to the progressive failure of respiratory muscles (airflow obstruction, static and dynamic hyperinflation, positive intrinsic end expiratory pressure), the ventilation/ perfusion ratio abnormalities leading to the loss of the gaz exchange efficiency. Inspiratory command depends on the medulla automatic pathway and the voluntary corticospinal command. Indirect method of breathing control estimation suggested in COPD patients an increased excitability of neurons involved in the voluntary diaphragm activation and a reduced cortical reserve. This may represent an increase risk factor for acute respiratory failure. Until now, no study reported the central breathing control with cerebral fMRI in COPD patients.

The purpose of this study is to characterise inspiratory flow parameters across 2 Easyhaler® (EH) inhaler versions and Diskus® inhaler in patients with asthma (including children, adults, and the elderly) and in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In the investigators' knowledge there are no data about the impact of non invasive mechanical ventilation on the breathing-swallowing interaction. Our main objective is to evaluate breathing-swallowing interaction in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients hospitalized in intensive care unit for an acute exacerbation, and evaluate the impact of using non invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV)

The purpose of the study is to determine a possible association between the clinical entity of exacerbation, markers of systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in patients with COPD.

There is a demand for explorative and comparative studies on various non-pharmaceutical efforts in treating and helping chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. This study has been developed in light of this need. The main purpose of the project is to test whether a device guided breathing control system can decreasing the feeling of breathlessness in patients with moderate stage and severe stage of COPD. In addition the study could shed light on whether a reduced feeling of breathlessness can lead to improved physical function, and less experience of other symptoms (I.e., depression, anxiety, sleeping difficulties, fatigue, pain) and provide a better quality of life for patients with COPD.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether discussions of life story, forgiveness, and future goals improve quality of life for patients with serious illness.

The present study is part of a project titled 'Magnesium in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease'. The hypothesis of the main project is that daily magnesium supplement will benefit patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The aim of this part of the project is to study the pharmacokinetics of the following two magnesium supplements: Mablet (dietary supplement) Magnesium Sulfate (solution for infusion)