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Atrovent®, Combivent®) and Spiriva) Linked To Cardiac Deaths 10-16-08
by: Sherry Baker
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a medical term that actually
encompasses two lung diseases, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Both are
characterized by partial obstruction of the airways that allow you to breathe.
The result for those with COPD is a feeling of shortness of breath and, in
severe cases, extreme impairment in the ability to breathe at all.
COPD is the 4th leading cause of death in the US, according to the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) and the direct cause of mortality is usually heart
related. Now comes word from a study by Wake Forest University School of
Medicine researchers that the very drugs often used to treat COPD actually
increase the risk of death from heart problems.
The research, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
(JAMA), was based on a meta-analysis of 17 clinical trials of medications known
as inhaled anti-cholinergic drugs used to treat COPD. The scientists looked at
the medical histories of people taking widely prescribed medications for COPD
like ipratropium (marketed as Atrovent®, or combined with albuterol and sold
under the name Combivent®) and tiotropium (marketed as Spiriva). COPD patients
who used these drugs for at least one month had a 58% increased risk of
cardiovascular death, heart attack, or stroke when compared with COPD patients
who took other inhaled agents or placebo inhalers containing no medication at
all.
Other conventional therapies for COPD include inhalers, steroids, antibiotics,
oxygen, and mucolytic medicines (used to dissolve mucin, a component of mucus)
-- all of which also have the potential for side effects. For example, steroid
inhalers can lower your immune system's response to fungal infections and lead
to yeast growing in the mouth, or thrush. What's more, high doses of inhaled
steroids over time up the risk of the bone weakening condition known as
osteoporosis.
Fortunately, natural alternatives to traditional treatments are available that
may help people with COPD.
Omega 3 fatty acids, found primarily in cold water fish like salmon and
some plants sources such as walnuts, have been found to help people with COPD in
a couple of ways, according to researchers at Kagoshima University Hospital in
Japan. After taking omega 3 supplements daily for a total of two years, research
subjects with COPD had significantly lower signs of inflammation and
improvements in their ability to exercise, as well as improvements in their
shortness of breath symptoms.
Vitamin C and magnesium may also help COPD symptoms. Researchers at
Nottingham University in the UK surveyed more than 2,500 subjects to study the
relationship between diet and COPD. After nine years, they found the people with
COPD who consumed higher amounts of vitamin C had better lung function than
their counterparts with low vitamin C intake. In addition, those who had diets
rich in both vitamin C and magnesium had markedly improved lung function
compared to others with COPD.
Antioxidants at therapeutic levels could be beneficial for those
suffering from COPD. That's the conclusion of researchers in the Department of
Environmental Medicine, Division of Lung Biology and Disease, at the University
of Rochester Medical Center. Their research suggests antioxidants and other
natural anti-inflammatories like those found in green tea, red wine and tumeric,
could help calm the oxidative stress and chronic inflammation association with
COPD.
The best treatment of all for COPD? Avoid it in the first place with a
healthy lifestyle that avoids polluted and smoky air. The National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute states most cases of COPD result from repeatedly breathing
in chemical fumes, dusts and other things that irritate and damage the lungs and
airways. Cigarette smoking is the most common irritant linked to the development
of COPD.
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