Patricia Inácio, PhD, science writer —

Breathing exercises via a mobile app help improve respiratory muscle strength and mobility in the diaphragm in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a study says. The study, “Respiratory muscle training program supplemented by a cell-phone application in COPD patients with severe airflow limitation,” was published…

Twenty years after the collapse the World Trade Center, rescue workers and volunteers who assisted at the site in the two days that immediately followed face a 30% increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers report. COPD in these first responders is often preceded by a diagnosis of…

Smaller particles and optimal inhalation speed of inhaler treatments — a mainstay for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — enhance their delivery to deep airway passages, a study shows. The study, “Computational evaluation of drug delivery in human respiratory tract under realistic inhalation,” was…

GoodRx, a platform for healthcare savings in the U.S., and pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim have teamed up to help lower out-of-pocket medication costs  for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or type 2 diabetes. Patients will be able to enroll in sponsored copay programs to access  Boehringer…

Treatment with mepolizumab, an antibody designed to lower the levels of eosinophils — immune cells linked with worse chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — was found to reduce the annual rate of exacerbations and improve health-related quality of life in people with eosinophil-associated COPD. The findings, from a meta-analysis…

Approximately 40% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in the U.S. — and notably, most of those living in small towns or rural areas — have limited access to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) maintenance programs, according to a recent study. Indeed, roughly 17% of people with COPD from this…

Note: This story was updated May 21, 2021, as an earlier version of this article misidentified Renu Jain, PhD, scientific director of medical affairs at GlaxoSmithKline.  People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who do not experience exacerbations, or flare-ups, within the previous 12 months are still at risk…

The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Foundation and DevPro Biopharma have established a partnership to develop new therapies for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other lung disorders. The collaborators will work to identify potential therapies and speed their development and possible regulatory approval. The aim is to enable new treatments…

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are more likely to develop ventricular arrhythmia, a heart rhythm disorder affecting the heart’s lower chambers or ventricles, than people without the disease, according to a Taiwanese nationwide study. Later analysis of that study also found that people with both COPD and…

A new collaboration is seeking to bring quantitative imaging analysis to diagnosis and care of patients with chronic lung diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema. The agreement is between Spesana, a healthcare platform focused on molecular diagnostics and in building an accessible database for physicians,…