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Exacerbations of COPD make patients more likely to get sick again, British researchers report
Newswise
Exacerbations in chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) themselves increase the likelihood of repeat exacerbations, according to new research reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a publication of the American Thoracic Society.
Exacerbations are a worsening of symptoms, or “flare-up” of disease.
“Our finding of a high-risk period for recurrent exacerbation may be important in guiding patient follow-up,” wrote lead author John Hurst, MD, of the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London.
The researchers identified an eight-week period following exacerbations during which monitoring and follow-up is crucial to prevent or minimize further exacerbations in the COPD patient.
Researchers also found that exacerbations were significantly more common in the winter than the summer.
“This knowledge is very important for physicians,” wrote Shawn D. Aaron, MD, of the Ottawa Health Research Institute in Canada, in an editorial in the same issue of the journal. “Clinicians should now be aware that their patients with COPD who experience an exacerbation may be particularly ‘brittle’ during a subsequent eight-week period. Close monitoring and follow-up during this time would hopefully lead to earlier therapy for recurrent exacerbations that may improve clinical outcomes.”
