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Health Tip: Helping COPD

By HealthCast on April 12, 2010

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an umbrella term that describes long-term lung diseases including emphysema and bronchitis.

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute names these possible treatment options for COPD:

Use an inhaled medication, including a bronchodilator or steroid drug.
Attend pulmonary rehabilitation to help you learn how to manage symptoms.
Exercise to improve strength and breathing.
Quit smoking.
Avoid pollution when possible.
Use oxygen therapy.
Have lung surgery to treat severe COPD.

Source: HealthDay

Are You Living with Psoriasis?

A growing knowledge of the skin disease called psoriasis is leading to greater treatment choices, including personalized therapies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports.

Psoriasis is an immune system disorder that causes overproduction of skin cells, resulting in scaling, pain, swelling, redness and heat. The condition affects about 7.5 million Americans.

“As we better understand the disease, researchers know more about what specific factors to target in order to develop effective treatments,” FDA dermatologist Dr. Melinda McCord said in an agency news release.

There is no cure for psoriasis, so the main goals of treatments are to stop skin cell overproduction and reduce inflammation. Current therapies include medicines applied to the skin (topical), light treatment (phototherapy), or drugs taken by mouth or given by injection.

Doctors used to take a step-by-step approach, starting patients with mild to moderate psoriasis on topical therapy. If that was ineffective, doctors moved on to phototherapy or drug treatment.

Health Tip: Helping COPD

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Are You Living with Psoriasis?

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