In this episode, we focus on the importance of early intervention required to prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations and premature death with Dr Raja Murugesan, Clinical Lead for Respiratory Medicine both in Manchester and Greater Manchester.
Dr Raja Murugesan would like his take-home messages to be:
- COPD in the UK still accounts for 30,000 deaths annually in the UK, however if we can act early, then we can prevent these deaths from happening and prevent unnecessary, emergency hospital admissions.
- Even one moderate exacerbation can cause premature death so we need to be proactive in picking up these patients, getting the diagnosis right and have the correct interventions in place.
Useful links
References
- Department of Health Respiratory Team. An outcomes strategy for COPD and Asthma in England. 2011. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216531/dh_134001.pdf (accessed August 2021)
- British Lung Foundation. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) statistics. Available from: https://statistics.blf.org.uk/copd?_ga=2.219875801.1367299004.1527163268-1758129798.1527163268 (accessed August 2021)
- NHS England. Overview of potential to reduce lives lost from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). 2014. Available from: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/rm-fs-6.pdf (accessed August 2021)
- Barnett K, et al. Epidemiology of multimorbidity and implications for health care, research, and medical education: a cross-sectional study. Lancet. 2012;380(9836):37-43. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60240-2.
- Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD: 2021 report. 2020. Available from: https://goldcopd.org (accessed August 2021)
- Hurst JR, et al. Susceptibility to exacerbation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. N Engl J Med. 2010;363(12):1128-38. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0909883.
- Wilkinson TM, et al. Early therapy improves outcomes of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2004;169(12):1298-303. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200310-1443OC.
- Dalsgaard M, et al. Prevalence of airflow obstruction in patients with stable systolic heart failure. BMC Pulm Med. 2017;17(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s12890-016-0351-9.
- Franssen FM, et al. Lung function abnormalities in smokers with ischemic heart disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2016;194(5):568-76. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201512-2480OC.
- Dransfield MT, et al. Acute exacerbations and lung function loss in smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195(3):324-330. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201605-1014OC.
- Watz H, et al. Spirometric changes during exacerbations of COPD: a post hoc analysis of the WISDOM trial. Respir Res. 2018;19(1):251. doi: 10.1186/s12931-018-0944-3.
- Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD: 2020 report. 2020. Available from: https://goldcopd.org (accessed August 2021)
- Janson C, et al. Management and risk of mortality in patients hospitalised due to a first severe COPD exacerbation. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2020;15:2673-2682. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S276819.
- Rothnie KJ, Müllerová H, Smeeth L, Quint JK. Natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations in a general practice-based population with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2018;198(4):464-471. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201710-2029OC.
- Suissa S, et al. Long-term natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: severe exacerbations and mortality. Thorax. 2012;67(11):957-63. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2011-201518.