Active clinical trials for "Lung Diseases"

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease has two heterogeneous conditions (chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema phenotypes) with a different clinical presentation. The phenotype evaluation in COPD patient (trough clinical, functional and radiographic parameters) could influence final results in pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic management of the disease. The aim of our study is to investigate whether COPD patients with different disease phenotype (chronic bronchitis versus pulmonary emphysema) have a different response to PR.

An estimated three million people are affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the UK, giving it a prevalence of 1.5% of the population in 2007/08. COPD accounts for approximately 30,000 deaths each year in the UK and is an important co-morbidity in those dying from other smoking related diseases, most commonly ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer. The National COPD audit showed a very high level of co-morbidity, the association with cardiovascular disease being particularly strong with 51% of patients with cardiovascular disease having been admitted for COPD within the preceding 24 months. Patients with COPD are at increased risk of myocardial infarction compared to the general population. Although this increase in cardiovascular risk exists, it is not clear is whether survival after myocardial infarction is different in patients with and without COPD and what factors contribute to this survival difference. Differences in survival may arise due to differences in prescribing certain drugs such as beta-blockers, differences in prevalence of risk factors (e.g. current smoking status) or increased COPD events such as exacerbations which themselves are associated with increased mortality. The investigators primary aim is to investigate whether survival after first myocardial infarction is shorter in patients with COPD than those without COPD and to establish reasons for these differences in survival.

This is a 3 year longitudinal study to identify novel endpoints and compare these with standard measures such as forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) for their ability to measure and predict COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) severity and its progression over time. Control subjects (smokers and never smokers) will be recruited as comparators with the COPD subjects.

A Cross sectional observational Quality Assurance Project in General Practice to COPD Diagnosis and Treatment

To localize within the genome a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease susceptibility gene.

To determine risk factors for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

To conduct a genetic analysis of anatomic risk factors for sleep apnea in a well-characterized United States population-based registry of elderly male twins who have been successfully followed for the past 30 years.

To study the epidemiology of emergency asthma by focusing on three Multicenter Asthma Research Collaboration (MARC) databases collected over a two-year period in adult and pediatric emergency departments.

To establish a registry of primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), a lethal disease which causes progressive obstruction of small pulmonary arteries and to investigate basic mechanisms of the disease.

To conduct molecular genetic studies in human pedigrees in order to identify the major genes responsible for asthma.