Pulmonary Disorder

There is an urgent need of proper and innovative research on pulmonary disorders. It is because, between 3 and 7 million Americans are currently diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These people suffer years of progressive discomfort and disability with their respiratory systems. With the number of deaths per year attributed to this disease at approximately 100,000 and increasing thus, COPD is now the fourth leading cause of death in this country and is expected to be third by the year 2020. Cigarette smoking is firmly established as the major cause of COPD, but approximately one-quarter of Americans continue to smoke, despite aggressive smoking prevention and cessation efforts. Better means are clearly needed for the prevention and treatment of COPD, and more scientific research is needed to enable improvements in its clinical management.

Research progress in pulmonary disorders has been slow and inappropriate. The main focus of the basic pulmonary research over the past 40 years has focused on the roles of inflammation, cigarette smoke, and the balance of protease.  However, now there are encouraging indications for future COPD and pulmonary disorders research. Furthermore, the detail study of several cellular pathways that are critically involved in COPD pathogenesis and respiratory disease may lead rapidly to clinical trials of potential therapeutics.