Helping Older People Breathe More Easily

One important type of clinically significant lung disease that is frequently encountered by pharmacists working in consultant roles is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Data recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that about 6% of people from the United States aged 40 years or older report a COPD diagnosis, and a major illness affecting more than 1 in 20 of the nation's population is unequivocally an important public health priority. Moreover, in the same report, high rates of comorbidities such as dyslipidaemia, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer are noted, along with increasing emergency department presentations and increasing expenditure on drug therapy used for COPD management.