Endotypical COPD treatment

25.03.21 11:05 PM Comment(s) By Adriana

COPD and its exacerbations are a serious health problem. COPD is the third leading cause of death worldwide. According to a study entitled "Recent advances in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease pathogenesis: from disease mechanisms to precision medicine", so far, treatments focus on improving symptoms and preventing exacerbations, as there are no treatments that cure the disease. However, it needs to be attacked under a different optics.

A personalized treatment

The study mentioned above suggests that the main drawback of existing treatments is that they are not personalized. In other words, pharmacological intervention depends on the severity of the disease, rather than the pathology of each individual. Therefore, if the following factors were taken into account so that better results would be obtained:

Advances related to abnormal inflammatory response

Changes related to ECM (Extracellular Matrix Mechanics) and age

Structural changes in small airways

The role of patient´s sex

All this is relevant to explain the individual differences in COPD pathology and to be able to treat it in an endotypical way. The latter is something that has been done with the treatment of asthma for a long time.

Gold Spirometry criteria for COPD severity

Although various tests are needed to diagnose COPD, spirometry is used to determine the severity of air obstruction. However, when performed or interpreted incorrectly there may be misdiagnosed. Some of these misinterpretations include overlooking poor quality spirometry or using inappropriate reference values.

According to the ATS/ERS these are the parameters that are used to measure the severity of airflow obstruction:

The advantages of ultrasonic spirometry

The use of ultrasonic technology for airflow measurement ensures stable and accurate results. It is a practical and hygienic option that eliminates the problems associated with traditional flow measurement methods. In ultrasonic equipment: