View clinical trials related to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Filter by:To investigate the validity of a clinical model to determine the relative potency of different preparations of inhaled corticosteroids used for the treatment of asthma or of eosinophilic bronchitis without asthma.
The trial intends to investigate, whether inspiratory muscle training in hypercapnic patients improves inspiratory muscle strength, inspiratory muscle endurance and endurance to walk within six minutes.
The purpose of the study is to compare histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) expressions and activities in induced sputum macrophages obtained from patients with moderate to severe COPD and age-matched normal non-smokers
A new artificial lung device has been developed that potentially provides added support to mechanical ventilation for severely damaged lungs. The Hattler Respiratory Assist Catheter is designed to provide gas exchange (deliver oxygen and remove carbon dioxide) for a period of up to 7 days, providing more time for the lungs to improve. Extrapolating from large animal data, the hypothesis is that the Hattler Catheter will be capable of providing 30% to 40% of the basal requirements of carbon dioxide exchange in a manner that is dependable and reproducible.
We want to study the effect of the combination of metoprolol (a beta-blocker) with formoterol (a beta-agonist) on long function in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). There are more and more clues that a beta-blocker, when well chosen and in the right dosage, won't harm the long function in patients with COPD. Since a beta-blocker can be a valuable addition to treating patients with heart problems we would like to see if this category of medication can be available for COPD patients in the future.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease state characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. Acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) with increasing symptoms like dyspnea, cough and sputum is the natural history of the disease and incurs significant burden to our health care system. In Hong Kong, COPD was the 5th leading cause of death, and accounted for at least 4% of all public hospital acute admissions in 2003. Previous studies have shown that pulmonary function and quality of life were adversely affected by frequent exacerbations. Strategies to decrease the heavy use of health care resources is urgently needed for the benefits of the patients and the society. Pulmonary rehabilitation programme (PRP) is a multidisciplinary programme of care for patients with chronic respiratory impairment. In COPD patients, the programme can be tailored individually and can optimize each patient's physical and social performance and autonomy. Previous studies on patients with stable COPD found that a PRP including education and physical training could lead to statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in health related quality of life and exercise capacity. COPD patients who just have experienced an episode of acute exacerbations are at high risk of developing another attack. There has been only one randomized controlled study looking at the effect of out-patient PRP for patients immediately after an exacerbation. It has shown that PRP immediately after an exacerbation was safe and improved the exercise capacity and the quality of life at 3 months. However, the follow up duration of the study was short and thus the effect of rehabilitation on recurrent exacerbations and hospitalizations is not assessed and this information is important. The investigators would thus like perform a randomized controlled trial to assess if a short course (for 6 weeks) out-patient PRP for patients admitted to acute hospital for AECOPD could have a positive impact on the patients by decreasing their health care resources utilization (recurrent COPD exacerbations, hospitalizations and accident and emergency department [AED] attendance) and improving the quality of life of the patients over a period of 1 year. Patients will be randomized to either a control group or PRP intervention group. It is hope that the information generated from this study will be able to give a guide to whether short course PRP is effective for the patient (in terms of quality of life) and the health care system (in terms of health care utilization).
The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and efficacy of the investigational drug in comparison with a placebo.
Asthma and COPD are characterized by airway narrowing. The most potent, physiological mechanism leading to bronchodilation is taking a deep inspiration. This protects healthy subjects against bronchoconstrictive stimuli, and reverses pre-existing bronchoconstriction. However, the deep breath-induced bronchoprotection and -bronchodilation is impaired in asthma. We questioned whether this is specific for asthma (in comparison to COPD), and whether this is associated with bronchial inflammation and -remodelling. The study is a two-groups comparison, of physiological and pathological disease markers, obtained by methacholine challenges, monitoring airways resistance, and by taking bronchial biopsies.
A single post-hospital discharge home visit by a geriatric nurse practitioner or geriatric fellow can bridge the gap and ease the transition for elderly frail patients returning home after hospital admission. We believe this intervention will reduce medication errors, ensure follow-up discharge plans, decrease re-hospitalization rates, and decrease morbidity and mortality.
The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of a home-delivered variant of the chronic disease self management program in improving health outcomes in patients with chronic conditions.