NIH Studies Effect Of Home Oxygen Therapy On Patients With Moderate COPD

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, is launching with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services a six-year, $28 million randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of long-term, home oxygen therapy for COPD. In this Long-term Oxygen Treatment Trial, researchers at 14 clinical centers across the United States will study about 3,500 patients with moderate COPD to determine whether supplemental oxygen will help them lead "longer, more active, and better quality lives," said a statement from NHLBI on November 20.??? The study aims to help CMS decide whether to extend coverage for home oxygen treatment to patients with moderate COPD. Currently, Medicare limits coverage of home oxygen therapy to beneficiaries with severe COPD (very low blood oxygen levels while resting).


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???"COPD is a devastating, highly disabling disease. The prospect that home oxygen therapy could lessen the disability of COPD and perhaps even prolong life when given earlier during the course of the disease is enticing, but we need more information," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D.


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The decision to undertake the study evolved from a scientific working group convened in May 2004 by NHLBI and the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which called for more research on the safety and efficacy of long-term oxygen therapy in patients with COPD. Patient recruitment for the trial is expected to begin in late 2007. Participants will be randomly selected to receive or not to receive supplemental oxygen for approximately three years.


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"As the population ages, the number of individuals affected by COPD is on the rise," noted James Kiley, PhD., director of the NHLBI Division of Lung Diseases. "It is more imperative than ever that we find treatments that will improve the health and function of patients with chronic lung diseases such as COPD." November is National COPD Awareness Month.??? See nih/news/pr/nov2006/nhlbi-20.htm for full statement.


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