A new study published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reveals that comorbidities amongst patients with chronicobstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common, and that severalof these comorbidities are independently linked to a higher risk ofmortality. Leading author Miguel Divo, MD, a physician in the Pulmonary andCritical Division at Brigham and Women's Hospital, who is also anInstructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said: "We followed 1,664 COPD patients recruited from five pulmonaryclinics in the United States and Spain for a median of 51 months.Among the 79 comorbidites we observed in these patients, 12 weresignificantly and independently associated with an increased riskof death." The 12 comorbidities with the strongest mortality risk are breast,lung pancreatic and esophageal cancer , atrial fibrillation/flutter, pulmonary fibrosis, congestive heart failure , coronary artery disease , gastric/duodenal ulcers, liver cirrhosis , diabetes with neuropathy and anxiety . Dr. Divo explained: "We used these 12 comorbidities to develop a new comorbidity riskindex (the COPD specific CO-morbidity Test, or COTE). Afteradjustment for age, gender, race, and BODE (Body Mass Index; FEV1;Dyspnea and Exercise capacity) index, an increased COTE index was asignificant predictor of death in our cohort of COPD patients." They discovered that the average number of comorbidities per studyparticipant was 6.0 ( 3.5) overall.
The average number ofcomorbidities was considerably higher in those who did not survive(6.5 3.8) as compared with those who did (5.8 3.3). Dr. Divo added: "These easily identifiable comorbidities could be screened byhealth care providers caring for COPD patients, as there may beeffective interventions that may help decrease the risk of death." The researchers were aware of the study's limitations, i.e. the lowproportion of women in the study (11%) and that some patients wereexcluded at baseline due to comorbidities that may cause earlydeath, such as a recent myocardial infarction, severe congestiveheart failure, and untreated cancer.
The patients were alsorecruited from specialty clinics and may therefore fail torepresent all COPD patients. Dr. Divo concluded: "In this study we have confirmed earlier observations that patientswith COPD frequently suffer from comorbidities, and have shown that12 specific comorbidities are associated with an increasedmortality risk in these patients. The simple comorbidity risk indexwe developed based on these 12 comorbidities complements the BODEindex and can be used to help predict an increased risk of death inCOPD patients in both clinical and research settings." Written By Petra Rattue Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. I am an expert from Agriculture, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as organic cacao beans , coconut shell charcoal.
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