COPD Patients Identify Factors Slowing Down Lung Function
Mar 13, 2025
Professor Lee Hyun-woo and Professor Kim Dong-hyun of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Seoul Boramae Hospital, operated by Seoul National University Hospital, have identified important factors that slow the rate of lung function decline in COPD patients. Studies have shown that patients with increased 'inhalation rate (hereinafter, intake flow rate:FIFmax)' have a more moderate rate of decrease in lung function and a lower incidence of severe exacerbation.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a disease in which the airways narrow and the lungs lose elasticity, making it difficult to breathe. The main symptoms include long-lasting cough, phlegm, and breathlessness, while the main causes include smoking, air pollution, and past lung infections. If the disease worsens, symptoms can suddenly worsen, and lung function can become worse and worse, making life difficult.
COPD is mainly known as a disease that makes it difficult to exhale, but in fact, it is very important to breathe in fast enough when treating. This is because if you do not breathe in with enough power, the symptoms can easily worsen because the medicine is not delivered properly, and eventually lung function can deteriorate faster.
In response, the researchers tracked changes in lung function of patients for 7 years in 956 COPD patients treated at Boramae Hospital between 2004 and 2020 to determine how this affects disease exacerbation and lung function decline by comparing the case of FIFmax in real COPD patients with improvement and deterioration.
As a result of the study, the rate of decrease in FEV1 (tough expiratory volume per second) was slower in the group with increased intake flow. FEV1 is an important indicator of how healthy lung function is, and is used to determine the degree of lung function decline in COPD or asthma patients. The difference between the two groups was 0.826 mL (95% confidence interval: 0.653 to 0.999, P<0.001) per year, which was statistically significant. In other words, patients with increased intake flow had more slowly decreased lung function.
In addition, the FIFmax-increased group had an annual incidence of severe exacerbation of 0.16 times, significantly lower than that of the decreasing group (0.25 times) (P=0.017). In addition, the time to severe exacerbation was longer, and the exacerbation of the disease tended to be delayed (P=0.047). This is evaluated as an important indicator that can improve the prognosis of COPD patients.
Professor Hyunwoo Lee explained that "it is of great significance in that we have long-term tracked the effect of improvement of respiratory flow on COPD treatment in large patient populations" and "respiratory rehabilitation and customized treatment to improve respiratory flow will be the key to improving survival rate and quality of life in COPD patients".
The findings were recently published in the international journal CHEST of the American Thoracic Physicians Association
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a disease in which the airways narrow and the lungs lose elasticity, making it difficult to breathe. The main symptoms include long-lasting cough, phlegm, and breathlessness, while the main causes include smoking, air pollution, and past lung infections. If the disease worsens, symptoms can suddenly worsen, and lung function can become worse and worse, making life difficult.
COPD is mainly known as a disease that makes it difficult to exhale, but in fact, it is very important to breathe in fast enough when treating. This is because if you do not breathe in with enough power, the symptoms can easily worsen because the medicine is not delivered properly, and eventually lung function can deteriorate faster.
In response, the researchers tracked changes in lung function of patients for 7 years in 956 COPD patients treated at Boramae Hospital between 2004 and 2020 to determine how this affects disease exacerbation and lung function decline by comparing the case of FIFmax in real COPD patients with improvement and deterioration.
As a result of the study, the rate of decrease in FEV1 (tough expiratory volume per second) was slower in the group with increased intake flow. FEV1 is an important indicator of how healthy lung function is, and is used to determine the degree of lung function decline in COPD or asthma patients. The difference between the two groups was 0.826 mL (95% confidence interval: 0.653 to 0.999, P<0.001) per year, which was statistically significant. In other words, patients with increased intake flow had more slowly decreased lung function.
In addition, the FIFmax-increased group had an annual incidence of severe exacerbation of 0.16 times, significantly lower than that of the decreasing group (0.25 times) (P=0.017). In addition, the time to severe exacerbation was longer, and the exacerbation of the disease tended to be delayed (P=0.047). This is evaluated as an important indicator that can improve the prognosis of COPD patients.
Professor Hyunwoo Lee explained that "it is of great significance in that we have long-term tracked the effect of improvement of respiratory flow on COPD treatment in large patient populations" and "respiratory rehabilitation and customized treatment to improve respiratory flow will be the key to improving survival rate and quality of life in COPD patients".
The findings were recently published in the international journal CHEST of the American Thoracic Physicians Association
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
