A combination of two common medications may help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) live longer.
New research presented at CHEST 2006, the 72nd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that when used in combination, inhaled salmeterol (SAL) and fluticasone propionate (FP) reduced the risk of dying by up to 17.5 percent in patients with COPD. Currently, FP, an inhaled corticosteroid, and SAL, a long-acting B2-agonist bronchodilator, are used alone and in combination to treat both asthma and COPD.
"The combination therapy of salmeterol and fluticasone is the first intervention since oxygen therapy or smoking cessation to show improved survival in patients with COPD," said study author Bartolome R. Celli, MD, FCCP, of Caritas-St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, MA. "The improvement was comparable with that produced by statins in cardiovascular mortality. This represents an important step forward in the management of COPD."