This article was written by Jonnie Korinko, MSRC, RRT, RRT-ACCS.

On June 26, 2024, Verona Pharmaceuticals announced that its new medication, Ensifentrine (Ohtuvayre), was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the maintenance treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). See the press release here. Ensifentrine works in two main ways to help people breathe better:

1. Relaxing Muscles: It helps the muscles around the airways in the lungs relax. Imagine squeezing a straw and letting go—more air can get through. Ensifentrine helps open up the airways so air can flow more easily.
2. Reducing Swelling: Sometimes, the airways get swollen and irritated, making breathing even harder. Ensifentrine helps reduce this swelling, like putting ice on a sprained ankle to make it feel better and less swollen.

Here's why this drug development is so important:

There are more treatment options available now. The medicine has a dual action, meaning it works in two ways—relaxing muscles in the airways and reducing swelling. Using a medicine that can do both actions may be more effective for some people than a medicine that only addresses one issue.

This release shows innovation in drug development for COPD. Ensifentrine acts on receptors different from those normally targeted in COPD treatment. This development could open up new research opportunities for the COPD community and provide an alternative treatment option for people who do not respond well to current treatments

This treatment can help people with COPD. The medicine may help lessen COPD symptoms, make breathing easier, and lead to fewer hospital visits.

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This article was written by Tara Shedor, MA.

The COPD Foundation recently spoke with Maddox, a high school senior from Cedar Rapids, IA who races his FWD 4-cylinder Hornet at Hawkeye Downs Speedway. Maddox has added the COPD Foundation logo to his car and has become a brand ambassador for the COPD Foundation. Read on to learn more about Maddox and his passion to spread awareness of COPD.

How long have you been racing and how did you get involved?

This is my second year racing, and my first with a full schedule. Last year I took part in various events, but this year it's more structured. I've always been around cars since my dad's a mechanic and my uncles raced. Last year, my uncle had a spare car that he was willing to sell to me so that I could start racing with my own car.

How long are the races, and how often do you race?

Right now, I'm racing weekly. I run a heat race which is about 8 laps and a feature which is 15 laps. I also do some one-off events where it's 200 laps or what they call "enduro races."

What inspired you to raise awareness for COPD?

There was a guy who worked for my dad named Harold Walton. I was close to him; he was more like family than just my dad's work friend. He always came around, and we talked a lot. Unfortunately, he passed away, and that really affected me. We had a memorial for him on my car and it sparked the idea of raising awareness about COPD.

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This article was written by Jamie Jarrard, BA.

"I'm going to live the best life that I can live, and I'm going to advocate for others."

When Karen Deitemeyer was diagnosed with COPD, she was angry.

In 1991 her doctor warned her that if she did not take care of herself, she would likely develop emphysema. She took this advice to heart and quit smoking. She thought she'd done everything right to avoid chronic lung disease, but soon noticed she couldn't walk as fast as her friends, and couldn't climb stairs or carry groceries without getting winded.

10 years later a pulmonologist told her she had COPD.

"It was scary at first," Karen recalled. "But that was before pulmonary rehabilitation."

Karen was surprised by her diagnosis because she believed that if she quit smoking, she could avoid COPD. Instead, she learned that the disease can affect anyone, even those who haven't smoked. Karen decided she would not live in fear and would learn everything she could about COPD.

She dove headfirst into pulmonary rehabilitation, which is a supervised medical program that helps people who have lung diseases live and breathe better. Pulmonary rehabilitation taught her how to take care of her health, the importance of exercise, and how to take her medications.

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This post was authored by Kristen Szymonik, BS, RRT, AE-C

When you think of a caregiver, who do you picture? Are you thinking about a person pushing someone in a wheelchair or taking care of a person in a bed at home? While these pictures may pop into our minds when we think about caregiving, they are actually missing some folks! A caregiver can be anyone: a son or daughter, husband or wife, mother or father, friend, relative, neighbor, or partner. A caregiver is anyone who loves and cares about you.

Health care teams tend to focus on the person who is living with COPD and often forget about the caregivers in that person's life. Caregivers have one of the hardest and most important jobs—supporting people with chronic health conditions. So why are their needs so often overlooked? The COPD Foundation offers resources just for the caregivers in your life. These are the people who care deeply about your health and well-being, and they should be supported and celebrated!

There are many helpful resources available for caregivers. Village Medical and the COPD Foundation recently collaborated to produce a new COPD Caregiver Packet, which features tips for you and your caregivers. Another helpful resource is the COPD Caregivers Toolkit, created by Respiratory Health Association, that offers important information on how caregivers can care for both themselves and someone with COPD.

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This article was written by Jamie Jarrard, BA.

Financial wellness can be a challenge for anyone, but may be especially hard if you are also managing a chronic illness, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

This summer we will be exploring ways to help manage your finances and plan for the future while navigating life with COPD. Some of these tips may be difficult to apply while living on a fixed income, and we will address more options in the future to support all individuals with chronic lung disease.

According to the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, average annual healthcare costs when living with a chronic condition can easily climb above $6,000 per person¹. Managing COPD can cost over $10,000 per individual each year².

Fortunately, there are proactive steps you can take to help soften the burden and prepare for future expenses.

1) Create a plan to become debt free.

Just as each individual is unique, each debt load is unique and requires personalized attention. However, the general principles of becoming debt-free can help you create a plan:

• Create a list of all debts owed, including total amounts, minimum monthly payments, and interest rates.
• As you can, begin making extra payments above the minimum amount on the debt that carries the highest interest rate, while continuing to pay the minimum monthly payment on all others.
• As each debt is paid off, use the money that was going towards the highest interest rate debt and apply it to the one next down on your list.
• Repeat this process until all of your debts are paid off.

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This article was written by Michael W. Hess, MPH, RRT, RPFT.

"Health policy" is a phrase that can end conversations as soon as they start. Most of us do not even like to think about things like policies or lobbying or regulations, let alone chat about them. All we really need to know about how a bill becomes law we learned from Schoolhouse Rock, right? However, it is very important to be familiar with what is happening in health policy. These rules can have big impacts on your health and financial well-being. Staying informed helps prevent you from surprises down the road. Today's blog is meant to update some of the biggest changes in health policy and to help show how YOU can get involved to support positive policies!

The Inflation Reduction Act

We covered many of the highlights of this law in a blog post last October, but we are now starting to see some more of its effects. For example, drug companies are now allowed only to raise prices in line with inflation. The prices they charge Medicare cannot be raised faster than that or they have to pay a penalty. Since many people with COPD also have other medical concerns, this can really help your pocketbook. Copays for vaccines have been eliminated. The infamous “donut hole” in medication coverage has also finally started to close. That means if you have a Medicare Part D plan, you will not have to pay more than $2,000 a year for your meds starting in 2025!

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation is, dollar-for-dollar, one of the best things out there to help with COPD. You can read many success stories on COPD360social from people who learned to exercise safely and manage symptoms better through pulmonary rehab. Unfortunately, many people are not able to take advantage of this wonderful tool. They may live in an area with no programs nearby or they may not be able to get transportation to a program in their area. During the pandemic, "virtual" programs that can be done at home became more readily available. These programs had similar benefits to in-person programs but were much easier for people to use. Unfortunately, the end of the national public health emergency last year also meant the end of Medicare coverage for these programs. Many programs had to shut down. There are two bills in Congress right now that would restore coverage for these programs. That would allow more people to receive the benefits of pulmonary rehab. However, both bills need more sponsors to be successfully passed into law.

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This article was written by Stephanie Williams, BS, RRT.

Living with a chronic illness such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can sometimes make people feel anxious or sad. These feelings can affect how they manage their illness and their overall health, so it is important to spot the signs and know how to get help.

In this blog, Dr. David Hatfield, a primary care doctor and chief physician executive at Village Medical, will give tips on how to feel better both physically and mentally by exercising, spending time with people, and having a good relationship with your doctor.

Let's dive in to discover how you can better understand and navigate the mental health challenges that come with COPD to take control of your well-being.

Can you help our readers understand the important connection between mental health and chronic conditions such as COPD?

COPD can affect more than your physical health - it can harm your mental well-being too. Having a chronic condition such as COPD can lead people to have anxiety and depression. It is normal to feel overwhelmed when learning you have a chronic illness, in part because you may now have a new medication routine. There may also be changes in your body like being tired or short of breath. If you need to use an oxygen machine, you may feel nervous or anxious about leaving home. All these new challenges can be stressful for you.

Even though stress is a feeling, it can have an impact on your body. Have you ever noticed that when you are feeling stressed your heart beats faster and your breathing becomes fast and shallow? This is because when you are under stress, your body produces stress hormones. These hormones can trigger COPD flare-ups or even weaken the immune system causing a domino effect that can make your flare-up worse leading to a hospital stay.

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This article was written by Tara Shedor, MA.

The COPD Foundation was delighted to recently be introduced to Tom of Pennsylvania who is using his time on the road to raise awareness about COPD and inspire our community. The following is an interview with Tom who shares his story about how he became an advocate for those with COPD through supporting his wife, Renee.

Who is your wife and how did she first become diagnosed with COPD?

My wife's name is Renee. She is 60 years old and will be 61 on April 25. She was diagnosed with COPD about 10 years ago. At that time, I had no idea what it was. She started having trouble walking and went to the doctor and the doctor diagnosed her with emphysema. She continued smoking, and only about two years later, she started having a lot of trouble breathing. I didn't know what to think. I used to smoke. I had never heard of COPD.

How did things progress for Renee?

They told her she should go on oxygen at night. She had this little tank. Then, eventually, they told her she needed to be on oxygen during the day. I was thinking, “really?” So, she had to be on oxygen all the time. Then next thing you know, it was one liter and then it went to two liters.

As time went on, I slowly started to witness how it was affecting her. She wasn't able to do her normal things in life such as walking distances. At that point I really started to research COPD. For the last 5 years, she became disabled from working, and the disease started to really take control of her abilities to do pretty much anything.

Then, last year, we started all the testing that's needed to qualify for a double lung transplant. This past Tuesday on April 9, she finally made it on the listing. I am scared for her and I'm sure she is also.

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This article was written by Michael W. Hess, MPH, RRT, RPFT.

After November, many people feel COPD Awareness Month is behind them. However, for the millions of people affected by COPD, awareness of this condition never goes away. Living with a chronic breathing problem can affect literally every moment of every day. That is why it is so important to not only make sure people with COPD have access to the best available therapies, but that medical research includes helping people breathe better at the top of the list.

I recently asked Dr. David Mannino, Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of the COPD Foundation, for his thoughts on COPD treatments available today and the future of clinical research. Dr. Mannino has experience in epidemiology (the study of how health conditions begin and spread) and continues to see patients at the University of Kentucky. His experience allows him to see COPD disease not only as a scientist, but also as a health care professional and researcher.

In his view, one of the biggest concerns about COPD management right now is the treatments themselves. "Current therapies for COPD have been approved almost exclusively on their ability to increase lung function," he told me. That is largely because the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency in charge of approving new medications, has historically focused on things like spirometry measurements to see how "effective" a new drug might be. Getting more air in and out of the lungs is clearly important, but Dr. Mannino adds, "it does not really address the symptoms that are important to patients, such as shortness of air, cough, and sputum (mucus) production."

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This article was written by Dr. Byron Thomashow and Dr. Caroline Carter.

Do you have cough that won't go away? Or feel like you're breathing through a straw? Do you stop halfway up the stairs because you need to catch your breath? If so, it's time to pay attention. These are all signs of a potentially serious condition - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

COPD is a chronic, progressive lung disease that affects more than 30 million people in the United States, and shockingly, over 15 million of them remain undiagnosed. It comprises several conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and can be caused by genetics and irritants like smoke or pollution. In the United States cigarette smoking remains the most common cause but data suggests that 25-40% of COPD occurs in never smokers.

While COPD is widely recognized, there are concerning gender differences in its diagnosis and management. Research has brought to light a significant increase in the number of women being diagnosed with COPD. While mortality rates for COPD have been decreasing, mortality rates are falling slower in women. Women now account for a higher proportion of COPD hospitalizations and in-hospital COPD related deaths. Despite this, women often experience delayed diagnoses compared to men, and it's often challenging for women to receive timely and accurate diagnoses.

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This article was written by Crystal Rothhaar, BS.

Are you at risk for chronic lung disease?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive and potentially debilitating lung condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It comprises several conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and can be caused by genetics and irritants such as smoke or pollution.

In the United States cigarette smoking remains the most common cause but data suggests that 25-40% of COPD occurs in never smokers. Other risk factors include genetics, air pollution, occupational exposures, asthma, impaired lung growth during childhood, and infectious diseases.

The role of primary care in diagnosing, managing, and treating this condition can't be overstated.

"It's vitally important to have an established connection with a primary care provider to manage COPD," says Dr. Louis Gilbert, a primary care physician at Village Medical - a provider of quality primary care. "Your primary care provider will coordinate care with specialists, such as a pulmonologist, when necessary, and make sure you are getting all of your health screenings and vaccines."

Early detection, open communication with a primary care provider, and adherence to treatment plans are critical. In this article, we'll help you take charge of your respiratory health.

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This post was written by: Amanda Atkinson, MSN, RN.

We live in a changing world where it seems like the pressures around us grow every day. Mental wellness has never been more important. Mental well-being is not just trendy or a buzzword, it is an important part of our overall health and happiness. Just as we make the health of our body a priority, we must also make our mental wellness a priority. Some people think that these two parts of us are separate. In reality, they are tightly connected.

Dr. Kiran Palande and I discuss some common questions about how your mental health and physical health are connected.

Dr. Palande is a passionate Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapist from Mumbai, India. She received a Master of Physiotherapy in Cardiorespiratory Sciences from NMIMS University. In her current role, she especially enjoys connecting with her patients through pulmonary rehab (an exercise program for those with lung conditions) and is a member of the COPD Foundation's State Captain program. Dr. Palande believes that pulmonary rehab is an essential aspect of care for people with lung conditions.

Dr. Palande, can you talk to us about how a person's mental health can affect their physical health?

Physical and emotional health are connected.

Maintaining good physical health improves lung function while supporting good mental health reduces stress and worry. Both of these can worsen a lung condition. Mental and physical health have an unbreakable connection.

Regular exercise, a good diet, and pulmonary rehab can help to improve lung function. Meanwhile, controlling stress and anxiety with relaxation techniques helps both mental and lung health. For an all-inclusive approach, both mental and physical health must be a focus.

What are some ways that a person can overcome limits and shame surrounding talking about mental wellness?

When a patient is first diagnosed with a lung condition, it is common for them to be worried. Accepting a diagnosis can be difficult. It is important to get educated about common thoughts and feelings related to having a lung condition. This can make it easier for someone to open up about how they are feeling.

It is important to remember that not all days are the same. We all have good days and bad days that we deal with. Every day is different for everyone. Your experiences and feelings are valid, and it is okay to talk about them. In fact, it is an important step to healing.

I have noticed that many people are still hesitant to talk about their emotions. Joining a support group for people with similar lung conditions can bring a sense of connection and understanding. This can often help lessen concerns about talking about your mental wellness.

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