Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Essay Example It is quite unfortunate that over the past three decades the research has not shown much progress, it has focused only on the pathogenic roles of cigarette smoke, inflammation, protease and antiprotease balance. Research has also established an association of COPD with cigarette smoking; and patients with emphysema are known to suffer from a gene deficiency in an inhibitor of a neutrophils protease (Stang et al, 2000). The theory of cigarette-inflammation-protease has done a lot in the field of COPD epidemiology and pathology but is not able to reduce the pervasiveness and morbidity caused by COPD. It is therefore imperative to impose an urgent necessity for research in this area. The research is directed to sustain novel concepts and innovative experimental approaches and techniques pertinently suitable to COPD research. The research is also directed to explicate the cellular pathways involved in COPD pathogenesis. This is a step helpful in clinical trials of potential therapeutics. Explanation of these pathways is the step to develop a capability of pharmaceutical industry to design the mechanism specific drugs. (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/workshops/copd_wksp.htm) The anonymity of COPD pathogenesis: COPD encompasses emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis, both these conditions relentlessly limits airflow that is not significantly reversed by bronchodilators. COPD progressively turn down the pulmonary functions with a rapid pace as compared to that in normal aging. Stimulating factors known to induce changes in animal lungs are cigarette smoke, pancreatic elastase, bacterial lipopolysaccharides, cadmium, chloramine-T, oxidants, silica, and rigorous malnourishment (Shapiro, 2000). It is established that many apparently dissimilar pathways are capable of causing emphysema or bronchitis,