Thousands of Americans suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), but new recommendations from a pair of health organizations may help ease their discomfort.
COPD is caused by inflamed and blocked airways in the lungs and is the fourth-leading cause of death in the USA, according to healthypeople.gov.
Smokers are particularly vulnerable to COPD.
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) together with the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) recently released new guidelines on the medical management for pharmacists.
“Both the ATS and GOLD guidelines are evidence-based, but the ATS guidelines are much more concise,” according to a release from Pharmacy Today by Suzanne G. Bollmeier, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS, AE-C, a pharmacy practice professor at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. “The ATS guidance addresses six specific questions related to the management of COPD patients in certain clinical situations, and practicing pharmacists may find the ATS document useful if already familiar with the GOLD guidelines.”
The guidelines include patients who are staged according to their history of exacerbations (A, B, C, D risk stratification) and pulmonary function and symptoms (CAT of MMRC scores). Initial and follow-up therapy (dyspnea or exacerbation pathways) are both given as evidence-based recommendations for the GOLD guidelines.
The proper use of long-acting beta-antagonists (LABA), inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA), opioid-based regimens and oral steroids are recommended by the ATS.
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