New Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Issued By American College of Physicians

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is a slowly progressive lung disease involving the airways and lung tissue, resulting in gradual loss of lung function, typically as a result of smoking. The symptoms of COPD range from chronic cough and wheezing to more severe symptoms such as shortness of breath and significant activity limitation. Now America’s largest medical specialty organization, the American College of Physicians, is issuing new guidelines for treatment of this condition that affects more than 5 percent of the U.S. adult population.

The new guidelines recommend doctors use spirometry, a simple test that measures lung function, only on patients who exhibit symptoms such as chronic coughing and wheezing to more severe symptoms like shortness of breath, poor exercise tolerance, and signs of fatigue. There is no substantial evidence that picking up the disease early by spirometry actually changes the overall natural course of the disease.

Additional recommendations include prescribing long acting inhaled therapies such as beta agonists, anticholinergics, or corticosteroids to open up and reduce inflammation of the airways, and oxygen therapy for patients with insufficient levels of oxygen in their circulating blood while resting.

Annals of Internal Medicine (www.annals.org) is one of the most widely cited peer-reviewed medical journals in the world. The journal has been published for 80 years and accepts only 7 percent of the original research studies submitted for publication. Annals of Internal Medicine is published by the American College of Physicians, the nation’s largest medical specialty society.