Heart Beat: New COPD medications seem okay for the heart
Heart Beat
New COPD medications seem okay for the heart
Diseases that interfere with the flow of air in and out of the lungs are lumped under the term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The two most common are emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Many people with COPD also have heart disease, so it's important that medications meant to keep the airways open and relaxed don't harm the circulatory system.
Results from a four-year trial showed that use of tiotropium (Spiriva), a relatively new drug used to keep airways open, reduced flare-ups of COPD and hospitalizations for it, but had no cardiovascular benefit or harm (New England Journal of Medicine, Oct. 9, 2008). That finding came just weeks after a meta-analysis of several trials suggested that heart attack, stroke, and deaths from cardiovascular disease were slightly more common in people taking tiotropium or ipratropium (Atrovent), which also helps keep airways open.
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