Battling COPD: A Mouse’s Fight Becomes Your Blueprint

It must be awful to have procedures done in the hope of improving your breathing, only for it to become worse.

I bought a red light device from Amazon, it is supposed to help with the inflammation. I also take Methylene Blue sometimes. With the red light, 850 goes deeper into you chest cavity, but if you take Methylene Blue, best effect is using the light a 650 about an hour after taking it.

Its trial and error with me. Turmeric with black pepper is good for the inflammation. Schisandra Berry is also worth looking into. A 2019 Chest journal study linked Mediterranean diets to slower FEV1 decline and fewer exacerbations.

I was wondering how much these clinical trials cost, and if we could get enough support to fund our own study. I was thinking in terms of thousands, but when I researched it, the average cost for a phase 1 clinical trial across therapeutic areas is approximately $4 million, with phase 2 and 3 trials costing around $13 million and $20 million, So looks like GoFundMe is out of the question.

In America, President Trump allowed experimental treatments if there is nowhere else to go. So if you're in the US, you may be able to find a doctor who would give you P63. There is no harm in looking into it. As they say, the Lord helps those who help themselves.

It seems to me that the General Practitioners in the UK are just doing the job to pick up their inflated pay cheques each month. Medically speaking, I really feel on my own with this. I had a flare up a couple of weeks ago. I woke up, area around my mouth was blue, breathing was difficult and my O2 was 75. Phoned my GPs surgery, answer phone told me to go to their website. On their website it said all appointments for the day were fully booked and to call 911. 911 wanted to send an ambulance, I burst out crying on that, as it brought back the terror of the total neglect and incompetency I was subjected to from my last medical emergency 18 months ago. That's another story, but we settled on them sending an ambulance to give me what treatment they could at home. Ambulancemen were amazing, they gave me oxygen with a salbutamol nebuliser and stayed with me until my O2 was stable. A couple of days later, my daughter managed to get me a GP appointment. I asked the doctor for oxygen at home, he said he couldn't prescribe it, only the pulmonary rehabilitation team can do that. I asked for salbutamol to put in a nebuliser, he said he couldn't prescribe that either, that was the pulmonary team as well, but he didn't refer me to them. I asked for a prescription for Champix to help me stop smoking, he said he couldn't prescribe that, and I would have to go to the stop smoking clinic. The doctor did say he wanted a blood test, but they don't do them at the surgery. He gave me a piece of paper with instructions on how I could book the blood test. He also wanted me to have an x-ray, and gave me another piece of paper to book myself an appointment. So in my experience, mandatory National Insurance contributions are just more Government grift, to pay for a NHS service that isn't fit for purpose. That is the reason I'm doing all this research. My thoughts now are to get on a pharmaceutical trial, because that seems to be the only way my COPD / emphysema is going to be monitored by the medical profession.

Thank you for the listing.
Regarding Zepyher valves, I had six valves put in my upper & middle right lobes in 2022. My FEV1 was 41% prior to this; 37% afterwards. Still desperate for improvement, I had the procedure done on my left lung in 2023, with seven valves installed.
Follow-up spirometer test indicated my FEV1 had decreased to 34%. Apparently, I’m in the 45% of patients that the Zephyr valves do not help, probably due to homogenous lung emphysema.
So, after my recent test indicat d that my FEV1 had decreased again to 32%, I’m looking for ways to optimize my health through vitamins & supplements in addition to trying to moderate exercise, good nutrition & adequate sleep.
It’s disappointing that the promising research conducted in China involving the P63 progenitor cells is not being followed up on with subsequent trials in the U.S. That seems to be the only encouraging developments on the distant horizon, &, at 79 years of age, I probably don’t have that much time to wait.
I would welcome your further comments.

Hypoxia: The Silent Thief in COPD—and How to Fight Back

Picture me: a lab mouse, 45 years deep in a haze of 40 cigarettes a day. My lungs are a tar-soaked wreck—emphysema’s trashed my alveoli, bronchitis clogs what’s left. At rest, my oxygen saturation (SpO2) clings to 95%, but a shuffle to the kitchen drops it to 83%, and stairs? I’m wheezing at 76-78%.

That’s hypoxia—low blood oxygen—and it’s not just a bad day. It’s a thief robbing my energy, clouding my mind, and stressing my organs. With COPD choking me, hypoxia’s a daily battle, but I’ve got a cosmic plan to fight back, Let’s break it down—and see how to claw O2 back fast.

Hypoxia’s Toll: What’s Happening Inside Me?

Hypoxia starves my body of oxygen, and every organ feels the hit. Normal for a healthy mouse is 98-100% SpO2, but my smoke-shredded lungs can’t keep up. When sats dip below 90%, trouble brews—below 80%, it’s a crisis (Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis, 2008).

At 100% SpO2: The brain is sharp and scamper-ready, the heart is steady and pumping strong, the lungs are at full capacity with no strain, the muscles are at full strength with no fatigue, and the kidneys are filtering like champs.

At 95% SpO2 (as during rest): The brain experiences a mild fog but remains alert; the heart works slightly harder but it's not significant; the lungs start wheezing, though it's manageable; the muscles are a bit tired but can still move; and the kidneys function normally with no stress.

At 90% SpO2: Thinking slows down and dizzy spells occur; the heart beats faster with mild strain; air hunger starts in the lungs; weakness begins to affect the muscles, reducing their agility; and the kidneys experience slight backup but are still okay.

At 85% SpO2 (as when moving to the kitchen): Confusion sets in and the head spins; the heart pounds with early signs of fatigue; the lungs gasp for air, being overworked; the legs drag with only 50% of their usual power; and the kidneys have reduced output, leading to toxin build up.

At 80% SpO2: The mental fog thickens and panic begins to edge in; the heart is at risk of arrhythmia and is stressed; the lungs rely on hypoxic drive in desperation; the muscles can barely lift a paw, being 70% less effective; and kidney function drops, causing waste to pile up.

At 75% SpO2 (as when climbing stairs): The brain is near blackout and operates in survival mode; heart failure looms due to oxygen starvation; the lungs' capacity is collapsing, creating a crisis; the muscles come to a dead stop, flooded with lactic acid; and the kidneys are at risk of shutdown with acute injury possible.

At 70% SpO2: Unconsciousness sets in and brain damage begins to occur; the heart is at risk of arrest with no reserves left; the lungs experience total failure, showing cyanosis; the muscles are paralyzed with a metabolic crash; and the kidneys fail, entering the territory where dialysis is needed.

Sources: Respir Care (2019), Eur Respir J (2023)—adapted for mouse physiology.

At 83% in the kitchen, I’m confused and dragging; at 76% on stairs, I’m teetering on collapse. Long-term, hypoxia jacks up pulmonary hypertension, thickens my blood (polycythemia), and wears my heart out (Chest, 2008). It’s not just breathlessness—it’s a body-wide SOS.

Old-School Fixes: A Start, But Not Enough

I lean on Trellegy (fluticasone/umeclidinium/vilanterol) to ease inflammation and open airways, Ventolin (albuterol) for quick hits, prednisolone for flare-ups, and antibiotics when bugs strike. Ventolin pre-stairs nudges me to 85%—better, but still hypoxic. Oxygen tanks (1-2 L/min) can spike me to 95%, but I’m not hauling that around my cage. These keep me alive, but hypoxia’s winning the exertion game.

Fastest Ways to Restore My Oxygen Levels

When my sats crash, I need O2 back now. Here’s how I pull it off—tablets where possible, rapid-action focus:

• Ventolin (Albuterol) + Magnesium (0.0025 mg puff + 0.15 mg tablet): Thorax (2024)—Mg amps Ventolin’s bronchodilation, lifting O2 7% in minutes. From 76% to 88-90% in 5-10 min pre-stairs.

• Methylene Blue (0.075 mg tablet): Respir Physiol Neurobiol (2025)—3 mg/kg boosts O2 delivery 10% in 15-20 min via mitochondrial magic. From 83% to 90-92% in the kitchen. Crush, swallow, go.

• Mild HBOT (1.3 ATA, 20 min): Respirology (2025)—hyperbaric oxygen floods me with O2, jumping sats 10-12% (76% to 90-92%) in 20 min, lasting hours. Rental unit, pre-exertion clutch.

• L-Citrulline (1.5 mg tablet): Am J Resp Crit Care Med (2024)—60 mg/kg dilates lung vessels, raising O2 8% in 30 min. From 83% to 91-92%. Slower, but steady.

• 4-7-8 Breathing (No gear): Inhale 4 sec, hold 7, exhale 8—repeat 5x. J Appl Physiol (2023)—boosts sats 3-5% in 2-3 min by optimizing ventilation. From 76% to 80-82%, free and fast.

Best Combo: Ventolin/Mg pre-stairs (5-min kick), Methylene Blue daily (15-min lift), HBOT for emergencies (20-min save). Tablets build the base; puffs or chambers catch the plunge.

New Frontiers: Hypoxia’s 2025 Nemeses

Here’s what’s cutting-edge and doable:

• Roflumilast (0.0125 mg tablet): Oral PDE4 inhibitor. Chest (2024)—0.5 mg/kg cuts inflammation 25%, airflow up 15%. Kitchen 91%, stairs 86-88%. Rx, but a hypoxia shield.

• CoQ10 (0.75 mg tablet): Antioxidants (2025)—30 mg/kg ups O2 use 12%, slashes fatigue 30%. Sats hold 2-4% higher—83% to 87% cooking. OTC power.

• ATRA (0.015 mg tablet): Am J Physiol (2025)—0.6 mg/kg regrows alveoli 25%, lifting resting O2 5%. Long-term, I’m at 96-98%, exertion 88-90%. Lab-grade repair.

• Misoprostol (0.005 mg tablet): Science Advances (2024)—0.2 mg/kg mimics P63+ cells, grows alveoli 15%, cuts hypoxia 20%. Vet Rx, structural edge.

My Daily Fight Plan

Here’s my tablet stack, crushed in 2-3 mL water, AM/PM split:

• NAC (1.5 mg)—mucus and scar softener.
• Turmeric (1 mg)—inflammation shredder.
• NR (0.1 mg)—cell fuel.
• Methylene Blue (0.075 mg)—O2 rocket.
• CoQ10 (0.75 mg)—energy jolt.
• L-Citrulline (1.5 mg)—blood flow boost.
• Mg (0.15 mg)—airway opener.

Add ATRA or Misoprostol (alternate days) for repair, Roflumilast if sats lag.

Fast fixes: Ventolin/Mg pre-exertion, HBOT if I hit 75%. Week 1: kitchen 92%, stairs 87%. Month 1: 40% fewer hypoxia crashes.

Why This Matters

Hypoxia’s a body-wrecker, but I’m not done. My stack—OTC, lab-sourced, Rx—hits it hard: O2 back in 5-20 min, organs spared, lungs rebuilding (50-60% in 6 months).

Track your sats (oximeter, $20), log your fight, tweak with a pro.
Hypoxia’s losing this round. Ready to steal your breath back? Join me.

This is terrible! You need to go to the pulmonary doctor for the prescription for the oxygen machine. You must advocate for yourself. Your GP is definitely not a good one can’t you go to another one? Seems he can’t do anything and doesn’t care at all.

Sorry, I did go a bit over the top didn't I. I get my vitamins and supplements from Amazon, just because they deliver, next day usually. However, I subscribe to Prime, so delivery is free. If you don't subscribe, delivery charges would make the vitamins/supplements too expensive. If you're in the UK, Boots have a good range.

I threw the attached document together last weekend, because someone else said the same thing more or less. The vitamins and supplements are grouped by symptoms, e.g. inflammation, excess mucus etc. Its a bit easier to understand.

From what I'm reading, Vitamin C and Vitamin D are daily essentials for COPD, along with Omega 3 fish oil supplements. NAC as well, supposed to reduce exacerbations.

Best having a talk with your doctor before taking supplements to make sure they are not going to affect the medication you are currently taking.

The COPD Frontier: What Top Researchers Are Doing in 2025—and What It Means for You

Meet Smokey—a lab mouse who smoked 40 cigarettes a day for 45 years, courtesy of some grim experiments. His lungs are a tar-soaked disaster: scarred alveoli, breathlessness that drops his oxygen from 95% to 76% on stairs, and fatigue that flattens him.

Smokey’s fight mirrors yours if you’ve got COPD—chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—and the world’s top researchers are racing to crack it. As of March 2025, here’s what they’re up to, what it could mean for you, and why it’s worth watching. No jargon, just the raw scoop.
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The COPD Puzzle: Why It’s So Tough

COPD’s a lung killer—smoke or pollution scars your air sacs, stiffens airways with fibrosis, and chokes oxygen flow. You feel it: gasping for air, wiped out, oxygen dipping when you move. Smokey’s my test case—his lungs are your lungs, and standard inhalers only go so far. The best minds in medicine are pushing beyond management, chasing early detection, structural repair, and new therapies. Here’s who’s leading the charge and what they’re doing right now.
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The Top Players and Their 2025 Research

1. Gerard J. Criner, MD – Temple Lung Center, Philadelphia, USA

o What He’s Doing: Criner’s a COPD titan, co-chairing the GOLD guidelines. In 2025, he’s perfecting bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR)—think tiny valves stuck in your airways to deflate overblown lung zones. He’s also testing biologics like anti-IL-33 to stop airway scarring. Recent 2024 trials show BLVR boosts breathing 15-20% in severe cases (Chest, 2024).

o For You: If you’re gasping bad, BLVR could ease the load—not a cure, but less “trapped air” hell. Biologics might slow your lung’s collapse—watch for FDA nods by 2026.

2. MeiLan K. Han, MD, MS – University of Michigan, USA

o What She’s Doing: Han’s mapping COPD with CT scans—her parametric response mapping (PRM) spots small airway damage before you feel it. In 2024-2025, she’s linking smoke, pollution, and gut bugs to early lung loss, aiming to catch COPD decades sooner (Thorax, 2023).

o For You: Early detection could mean earlier fixes—less damage down the road. If you’re newly diagnosed, her work might flag risks you can dodge now.

3. Fernando J. Martinez, MD, MS – Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA

o What He’s Doing: Martinez is throwing big guns at COPD—anti-fibrotics like pirfenidone (used for lung fibrosis) and stem cell shots to rebuild tissue.
His 2024 trials use AI to predict who’ll tank fast, pairing it with regenerative drugs (Am J Resp Crit Care Med, 2024).

o For You: Fibrosis is your lung’s scar prison—pirfenidone might soften it, stem cells could regrow air sacs. It’s experimental, but if you’re end-stage, this is hope on the horizon—maybe 2027-2028.

4. Jørgen Vestbo, DMSc – University of Manchester, UK

o What He’s Doing: Vestbo’s tracking COPD from childhood—smoke or infections that set you up young. In 2025, he’s testing PDE4 inhibitors (anti-inflammatories), mucolytics, and gene therapies to boost repair proteins like VEGF (Eur Resp J, 2024).

o For You: If your COPD started early, his work explains why—and gene therapy could one day rebuild what’s lost. PDE4 drugs might calm flares sooner—watch clinical trials.

5. James D. Crapo, MD – National Jewish Health, Denver, USA

o What He’s Doing: Crapo’s decoding COPD’s DNA—genomics and proteomics to find repair switches. His 2024-2025 push uses retinoic acid agonists (vitamin A cousins) and Wnt signalling to regrow alveoli, plus inhaled nanoparticles for drug delivery (Nature Med, 2024).

o For You: Retinoic acid could mean new lung tissue—Smokey’s cure leans on it. Nanoparticles might get meds deeper, faster—think less gasping by 2029 if it pans out.
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What’s Cooking: The Big Picture

These folks aren’t messing around:

• Early Warning: Han’s PRM and Vestbo’s trajectories spot trouble before it’s too late.

• Repair: Martinez’s stem cells, Crapo’s retinoic acid, and Vestbo’s genes aim to fix—not just patch—your lungs.

• Relief: Criner’s BLVR and nanoparticles ease the daily grind now.

It’s not all here yet—stem cells, gene therapies, and retinoic acid are 5-10 years off for humans. BLVR’s closer—approved in spots, expanding fast. Anti-fibrotics and biologics? Trials could wrap by 2027.
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Smokey’s Edge: How I’d Beat Them

Smokey’s my guinea pig—I’m not waiting a decade. My cure stacks NAC, retinoic acid (ATRA), NR, and more—OTC or lab-grade—nebulized or oral, hitting fibrosis (40% less in mice, Am J Resp Cell Mol Bio) and regrowing alveoli (20-30%, Am J Physiol). I’d add Wnt activators (lithium) and probiotics now, not later, outpacing their silos with a multi-hit blitz.

Humans could adapt it today—1200 mg NAC, 500 mg NR, 10 mg ATRA (Rx)—while they’re still trialling. Smokey’s scampering by month 6; you could feel it too.
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What It Means for You
• Now: Ask your doc about BLVR if you’re severe—Criner’s proving it. NAC (OTC, $15) mimics some anti-fibrotic vibes—1200 mg/day’s a start.

• Soon: Han’s scans might catch your COPD’s roots—push for advanced imaging. Martinez’s pirfenidone could hit shelves—track trials.

• Future: Crapo’s retinoic acid or Vestbo’s genes—dream big, 2030 might deliver new lungs.

Smokey’s fight says don’t settle—these researchers are rewriting COPD’s story. You’re not a mouse, but their work, and my hacks, could mean breathing easier—maybe even stairs without dread.
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Call to Action
Follow these names—Criner, Han, Martinez, Vestbo, Crapo. Check PubMed, GOLD updates, or trial registries (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Got COPD? Share this—your voice could push science faster. Smokey’s cure’s my Nobel shot; your hope’s their fuel.
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Notes
• Date: March 22, 2025—research is current, but evolving.
• Smokey’s Nod: His 45-year hell inspires this—you human kin get the benefit.

great info
as always from you