Hope for COPD

New Study for People with Severe to Very Severe COPD This research study is testing whether a new investigational drug that targets eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) could help patients with  COPD   (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) control symptoms and reduce exacerbations (flare-ups) that lead to hospitalizations. The new investigational drug will be compared to oral and inhaled corticosteroids, the current standard of care for COPD. More about the study: The study drug (Benralizumab) is administered by Subcutaneous (under the skin) injection (SC). There will be 3794 participants in this trial If you are interested, please find the full study details and eligibility criteria listed  here . Eligibility Criteria: Participants must: be between 40 – 85 years old have been diagnosed by a medical professional as having severe to very severe COPD be a current smoker or former smoker Participants must not: be taking any steroid medicat...

VACATION As I write this I am holding back tears. Some of you may remember that I went on vacation recently. This vacation was terrible. Do you know what it is like to have an aging parent that also suffers from anger issues? Someone that can be very controlling and manipulative? Abusive? The drive there... The entire drive was constantly, get in that lane... Turn here, turn there, hurry up and get in the other lane... WHILE listening to the GPS tell me what to do as well. He would demand I change lanes,even though there was a car right next to us that I would crash into if I listened to him. I was going too slow, too fast, not using the cruise control...  In Virginia, I got pulled over for speeding, 81 in a 70. The officer said I was doing 84, I didn't argue, and that my license was expired. So obviously I could not legally drive and my father took over. Swerving in and out of traffic and my daughter began to get car sick. So I asked him to stay in one lane and get a ...

How to Improve Indoor Air Quality in 14 Easy Steps Face it, upon the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which is an umbrella term that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, you have to constantly consider if the environment you are in is safe for your respiratory health. With a diagnosis of a chronic lung disease there are numerous lung irritants no matter where you go, but the one place that should be your respiratory safe haven is your home. Today we will be discussing 14 tips on how you can ensure that your home is free of symptom worsening lung irritants so you can relax and actually enjoy the time you spend at home. Enough chatter, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty details of how to effectively improve your home’s indoor air quality starting today. The Three Types of Substances that Reduce Indoor Air Quality: Allergens – This type of substance causes your body’s immune system to have an allergic response. Typically the most common sources of...

Medicine Bottles For Malawi Landfills Do Not Need Medicine Bottles! Anyone on prescription medicines finds themselves a bit uncomfortable when throwing away so many empty medicine bottles. It is obvious our landfills do not need these plastic containers! There is enough trash going into the landfills already. Medicine Wrapped in Paper While first world nations throw away perfectly good medicine bottles, medical pharmacies and hospital facilities in Malawi often find themselves with nothing except torn pieces of paper in which to wrap medicine for their patients. This is often seen in rural hospitals and villages where the poorest of the nation try to live and survive. You can help to change this. Please Remove the Labels Save up a group of your containers when you have completed that portion of your prescription. Place them in boiling water until you are able to easily remove the labels, and the glue. Then box or bag them and send them to the Malawi Project for shipment...

FALLING IN LOVE WITH COPD So, this isn't the first time I have fallen in love... But, is the last time I do. Or did. Except for my baby girl Tiny. And no, there is no one new in my life. It all started about 11 years ago when a couple I am friends of mine owned their car sales lot... I used to go in and hang out with my my friend and we would talk about the guy that worked with them, who flirted with me every time I came in. We talked about what an amazing worker he was, handsome... Oh my! Great with kids, great at everything he did. How he would be a great husband and father one day. He kept dropping hints about where he would be on a Friday or Saturday night, but I didn't bite. For months. I was afraid...  Somehow I knew that if I gave in, I would get hurt so bad. One night, he said he would be at the little bar by my house and that I should come in and have a drink with him... I called a friend to see if she would mind going in there with me and she agre...

COPD AT 40 Hi everyone, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Justine Peach. I am a 40 year old woman with a beautiful 16 year old daughter and I live in Melbourne Australia. I used to have a wonderful job that I loved doing. I worked as a nursery hand in a wholesale plant nursery. I moved between two different areas every six months. For the first six months I would be doing all areas of the work place. I would transplant baby plants into trays on a conveyor belt or moving trays of plants to their designated area to grow. Once ready we would be moving the trays from the ground to a trailer attached to a buggy and put them down ready to pick orders. Staking tomato plants, or watering the entire stock. Sweltering on hot days in greenhouses. There were many different areas and depending on staff and stock as to what our job for the day would be. The other six months I would spend at the main nursery department as a dispatch worker. Getting plants ready to load on t...