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Bronchodilators for COPD: At What Stage Should Therapeutic Intervention Be Initiated?

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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Pharmacologic therapy for COPD is used to reduce symptoms, reduce the frequency and severity of exacerbations, and improve health status and exercise tolerance. Medications that increase the FEV1 or change other spirometric variables, usually by altering airway smooth muscle tone, are termed bronchodilators, since the improvements in expiratory flow reflect widening of the airways rather than changes in lung elastic recoil. Such medications improve emptying of the lungs, tend to reduce dynamic hyperinflation at rest and during exercise, and improve exercise performance. The extent of these changes, especially in severe and very severe patients, is not easily predictable from the improvement in FEV1. This chapter will describe some of the information that support the use of mono- or combined bronchodilator therapy in patients with COPD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shimane Prefectural Central Hospital, 4-1-1 Himebara, Izumo-shi, Shimane, 693-8555, Japan

    Takashige Kuraki

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  1. Takashige Kuraki
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Correspondence to Takashige Kuraki .

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  1. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Medical University Ibaraki Medical Center, Ibaraki, Japan

    Hiroyuki Nakamura

  2. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Medical University Ibaraki Medical Center, Ibaraki, Japan

    Kazutetsu Aoshiba

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Kuraki, T. (2017). Bronchodilators for COPD: At What Stage Should Therapeutic Intervention Be Initiated?. In: Nakamura, H., Aoshiba, K. (eds) Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Respiratory Disease Series: Diagnostic Tools and Disease Managements. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0839-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0839-9_12

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