Antonio Anzueto, MD, on Steps to Understanding the Natural History of COPD

In this video, Antonio Anzueto, MD, talks about the next steps in his research into treatment options for patients with symptomatic COPD who are at high risk of exacerbations.

Additional Resource:

• Anzueto A, Obeid D, Bansal S, et al. Single-inhaler triple therapy fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol compared with tiotropium monotherapy in COPD: a post-hoc analysis by airflow. Paper presented at: CHEST Annual Meeting 2020; October 18-21, 2020; Virtual. https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(20)33702-8/fulltext 

Antonio R. Anzueto, MD, is a professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Diseases at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and the chief of the Pulmonary Section at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.

TRANSCRIPT:

My name is Antonio Anzueto. I’m a professor of medicine at the University of Texas, San Antonio. I'm also the section chief for pulmonary at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.

We're working now on researching the understanding this natural history of COPD, understanding also how bronchodilators—how medications—can impact the course of the disease.

COPD, now we know that it's related to cigarette smoking and environmental conditions. But if we can take a step back, maybe COPD starts much earlier in life. It can start when the patient has had asthma as a child or had lung infections.

There are very interesting studies that demonstrate that 25 years of age, some individuals are here at 100%, and some individuals are at 20% lower. They happen to smoke or they happen to be exposed to environmental conditions, they're going to have a more rapid decline in their lung function.

So, what we’re working on now is trying to understand the evolution of the natural history of disease, and more importantly how pharmacotherapy, having now all these wonderful medications that can significantly improve our patients, how can we impact this natural history of the disease?

I want to thank you for your attention. I hope I have provided you with useful information for your practice. And, remember, make a diagnosis because if you can treat that condition, you can significant impact the patient's life. Thank you.