Shawn D. Aaron

TL;DR: Highlights of this update include new epidemiological information on mortality and prevalence of COPD, which charts its emergence as a major health problem for women; a new section on common comorbidities in COPD; and an increased emphasis on the meaningful benefits of combined pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies.

TL;DR: The authors consider the circumstances when it may be possible to exclude patients from the analysis of data in clinical trials, even in an intention to treat trial.

TL;DR: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to determine whether combining tiotropium with salmeterol or fluticasonesalmeterol produces greater improvements in clinical outcomes for adults with moderate or severe COPD compared with tiotopium therapy alone.

TL;DR: The 24-h time activity patterns of North Americans are remarkably similar and use of the combined data set for some exposure assessments may be feasible.

TL;DR: It is concluded that markers of airway neutrophilic inflammation increase at the time of acute COPD exacerbation and then decline 1 mo later, and that this acute inflammatory response appears to occur independently of a demonstrable viral or bacterial airway infection.