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| Date : 9/25/2008 |
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Hour : 5:15:05 PM |
| Resource : AFP |
| Summery : The use of a once-a-day inhaler for chronic bronchitis or emphysema for longer than one month increases the risk of heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death by 58 percent, a new study says.
An analysis of 17 clinical trials involving 4,783 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) revealed the adverse cardiovascular outcomes for those using inhaled anticholinergics as opposed to a placebo or some other kind of treatment. |
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"A regulatory reassessment of the cardiovascular safety concerns with this class of inhalers is urgently needed," said study co-author Sonal Singh of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.
The risk of death was most salient in five clinical trials of more than six months duration, according to the study published in the September 24 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Anticholinergics belong to a class of drugs that dilate respiratory pathways to ease breathing and reduce bronchospasm, a sudden tightening of the bronchial tubes.
The two most commonly prescribed anticholinergics are tiotropium bromide, marketed as Spiriva by US pharmaceutical Pfizer, and ipratropium bromide or Atrovent, produced and marketed by the German firm Boehringer Ingelheim.
*** Read more at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080924/hl_afp/healthusmedicineinhalers_080924162946;_ylt=AlBkNPRtOya.Gk9u1.PCcMaJOrgF
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