COPD pharmacological treatment: efficacy and tolerability profiles in the elderly patient. Focus on aclidinium bromide
Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected to become the third cause of death due to continued
exposure to risk factors for COPD such as cigarette smoke, to the reduction in all cause mortality and to
an ageing world population. The ageing of airways and of lungs lead to structural alterations that are similar to
those observed in COPD, for instance the progressive reduction in the thorax wall compliance, the reduction
in respiratory muscle strength and the anatomical changes of pulmonary parenchyma and peripheral airways
that in the end lead to lung hyperinflation. All these different aspects cause relevant symptoms that have a
critical impact on patient’s quality of life related to the health status. In this context the pharmacological treatment
choice has to take into account the effectiveness in symptoms control during the most critical part of
the day, such as in the morning, the capability to reduce lung hyperinflation, breaking down a vicious circle that
starting form dyspnoea lead to muscle deconditioning and to an augment in exacerbation rates, with a worse
prognosis. Among the new bronchodilators, aclidinium owing to its pharmacological properties and the well
documented efficacy and safety profile.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright
© Società Italiana di Gerontologia e Geriatria (SIGG) , 2016
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