Henke Markus O, Shah Samir A, Rubin Bruce K
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg 35043, Germany.
COPD. 2005 Sep;2(3):377-90. doi: 10.1080/15412550500218148.
It has been established that mucus hypersecretion and decreased mucus clearance contribute to the morbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Indeed, the classic definition of chronic bronchitis relies on determining the frequency and duration of sputum expectoration. Despite the well recognized importance of this symptom, there are few therapies routinely used to decrease the sputum production or to improve clearance. There are fewer well conducted clinical trials of existing medications and this has led many regulatory agencies, notably the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to refuse to register these medications or approve their sale. Similarly, airway clearance devices and chest physical therapy have not been well studied in COPD. Carefully conducted studies of interventions to improve airway clearance, similar to those done in cystic fibrosis (CF), may help us to identify effective therapies and possibly novel diagnostic tests for the management of COPD.
现已证实，黏液分泌过多和黏液清除能力下降会导致慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）的发病。事实上，慢性支气管炎的经典定义依赖于确定咳痰的频率和持续时间。尽管这一症状的重要性已得到充分认识，但常规用于减少痰液生成或改善清除能力的治疗方法却很少。针对现有药物的精心设计的临床试验较少，这导致许多监管机构，尤其是美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA），拒绝为这些药物注册或批准其销售。同样，气道清除装置和胸部物理治疗在COPD中的研究也不够充分。类似于在囊性纤维化（CF）中所做的那样，对改善气道清除的干预措施进行精心研究，可能有助于我们确定有效的治疗方法，并可能找到用于COPD管理的新型诊断测试。
