Study Reveals 76 Percent Reduction in Risk of Death with NPPV Intervention
In an eye opening estimation, experts have predicted chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030. It’s a prediction that is leaving many researchers scrambling to invest more time and money into studies that focus on the treatment of this disease.
A press release on The Wall Street Journal website identifies the study as being funded by Res-Med, a global leader in the treatment of sleep-disordered breathing and other respiratory conditions. The study began in 2004 to investigate the success of long-term, non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV), also known as non-invasive ventilation.
NPPV treatment is a form of mechanical support in which positive pressure delivers a mixture of air and oxygen throughout the respiratory tree via a non-invasive interface. It holds the possibility to offer important benefits for patients with severe COPD and is likely to influence future clinical guidelines for their therapy.
The study states that “the control group received optimized COPD therapy and the intervention group received optimized COPD therapy plus NPPV, and was advised to use NPPV for at least six hours per day.”
Researchers measured survival rates and found that 33 percent of patients in the control group died within one year, while the risk of death declined by 76 percent for the intervention group. The survival benefit in the intervention group was maintained for longer than the year of the main study, suggesting that the benefits are long term.
"COPD takes an enormous human toll, and is also a significant burden on healthcare systems, putting a higher priority on pursuing treatments that have the potential to improve survival and reduce spending for healthcare organizations worldwide" says ResMed Chief Medical Officer Dr. Glenn Richards. “This study aligns with our goal of improving lives with every breath."
Click Here to Access the Full Study on The Lancet Respiratory Medicine
