Pharmacological Therapy of COPD: Reasons for Optimism

The number of pharmacological medications available to treat patients with COPD has increased over the past few decades. Most of the improvement has come from the modification of older compounds that are now more potent, of longer duration, and delivered in improved devices. They are now available as single, double, and even triple combinations that, although attempting to simplify administration, have also resulted in a large number of preparations. These medications are clearly effective and should be used as a central component of the multidimensional approach to the patient affected with COPD. The preferred route remains the inhaled direct delivery to the airways, but the favorable results obtained with systemic agents such as macrolides and roflumilast and the preliminary results of some biologicals are opening the door for the development of new drugs or reformulation of medications that have been used for other indications. Perhaps the most pressing need is to study the effect of these agents at early points in the course of the disease, because until now most, if not all, studies have been conducted in patients usually older than age 60 years, when most of the natural course of the disease has already been run. This monograph reviews the available pharmacological therapy based on current evidence and provides practical recommendations to health providers caring for patients with COPD.