Inspired by the idea that platelet aggregation can play a role in the development of emphysema, US scientists decided to test how the intake of aspirin affects the progression of this chronic lung disease, according to an online edition for girls and women aged 14 to 35. Pannochka. net Unexpected results of their research were presented on Sunday at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society 2015, which was held in Denver, Colorado.
Emphysema is a chronic progressive lung disease that is characterized by shortness of breath, intolerance to physical exertion and a violation of the gas composition of the blood due to pathological changes in the bronchioles. Today, emphysema is part of a large group of COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
According to the American Lung Association, in the United States, about 4.7 million people (92% of them over the age of 44) were diagnosed with emphysema as of 2011.
The leading author of the latest study, a researcher at the Columbia University Medical Center, Dr. Carrie Aaron, says that while the medicine does not know of any way to reduce the risk of emphysema, in addition to quitting smoking.
In the course of her work, Dr. Aaron and her colleagues analyzed 4,471 patients who participated in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), which was sponsored by the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
A few facts about chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD):.
• Smoking is the leading cause of COPD development.
• COPD is the No. 3 death in the US.
• COPD can go unnoticed for years Over the course of 10 years, participants regularly underwent CT and lung spirometry, which help evaluate the progression of the disease. Scientists say that 21% of participants regularly took aspirin, 55% in the past were smokers.
Analysis of the results showed that the regular use of aspirin (3 or more meals a week) is associated with a slower progression of emphysema, even taking into account factors such as sex, age, race / nationality, duration of smoking, the presence of hypertension.
The authors of the study argue that taking aspirin in effectiveness can be compared with giving up cigarettes - the most important measure that doctors recommend to all patients with emphysema.
Dr. Aaron summarized: "Our study shows that in people who use aspirin, emphysema progresses much more slowly, and that this difference can not be explained by other factors that we know. Perhaps this is due to the influence of aspirin on platelet activation or inflammation ".
medbe. en.