While many of you may have noticed an inordinate number of people sporting facial hair this month in support of prostate cancer, an event known as “Movember”, November is also COPD awareness month.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major health issue. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2030, COPD will become the third leading cause of death worldwide. It is imperative for research to continue into this condition to help manage and provide effective solutions and interventions for sufferers.

A recent article published in Respiratory Research summarizes 15 prognostic indices for COPD in a review of the literature from 2002-2010. Authors Wouter D van Dijk and colleagues conclude that future studies should focus on assessing the impact of these indices to determine whether they can improve decision making and health care. However, Andrea Rossi and Erika Zanardi, authors of a related Letter to the Editor, consider that, as there are multiple COPD phenotypes and multidimensional indices, it would not be possible to identify a single variable to assess COPD, but rather multiple variables for different COPD phenotypes.

Also of timely relevance, the results of a recent phase III study published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine have shown that inhaled formoterol, a long-acting beta2-agonist, was effective and well tolerated in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD, with patients on higher doses also reporting a reduced need for reliever medication.

Learn more about COPD including signs and symptoms, who is at risk, prevention and current treatments, and help to reduce the incidence of this condition.

Keep up to date with the latest research published by BioMed Central on COPD and check out other recent articles on this topic.