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· COPD
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· UK
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Almost three million patients in Britain should be receiving treatment for chronic lung conditions, a new study suggests.
Jump to full article: Electronic Telegraph (uk), 2009-08-28
Author: Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Intro: Only 900,000 of the estimated 3.7 million people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), an umbrella term for conditions such as emphysema and bronchitis, have been diagnosed with the disease and are being treated.
Although there are drugs available, there was little evidence that they were effective in the early stages of the condition.
However, a new study published online by the Lancet medical journal, shows that the drugs can reduce decline in lung function, even before the disease has progressed to more advanced stages.
Researchers from the University of Leuven, Belgium, used inhaled tiotropium to treat 1,218 patients, with an average age of 64, over four years and gave another 1158 patients a placebo.
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