COPD and Emphysema: Confused by pulmonary function test and more
Confused by PFT. So much to absorb ! What are the treatments for Mild, Moderate and Severe ?
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there is good news there is STEM CELL and now ZEPHER VALVES talk to your doctors about these new break thru devices. good luck god bless you all. I have copd myself.
@clipper- good morning. I didn't find that you were abrupt at all. Thank you for your hard work in your research. What a wealth of information and hope you have given all of us. Thank you. It's exciting to see medical advances happen in front of your eyes isn't it! To be able to freely breathe again, or near it is the future!
@merpreb
Morning. There is lots of really great research going on. We should all have hope, real science is amazing and the field of regenerative medicine will get us there.
Hip Hip Hooray @clipper! You are right on target!
Marc; I've read Dr. Morrisey at Penn University found that AEP stem cells will regrow alveoli in mice. I also read where Mayo can produce millions of stem cells quickly. I would like them to get together and see if they could help each other find a cure.
A few years back I read some Japanese scientist discovered the same thing in mice and that more studies needed to be done. From what I've seen stem therapy doesn't seem to be toxic. It may not work but shouldn't kill you. Maybe I'm wrong but if not why can't the step up the pace?? I'm ready to be a human mouse 🙂
bb729; they all seem to give hope then pull rug out. The best lung Dr. I ever seen once told me I don't want you to give up hope, but remember there is no money in cures. He also said big Pharma control trials and a lot of doctors.
@jgpolachek- Welcome to Mayo Connect. I am a volunteer mentor with Mayo Connect. I'm a lung cancer survivor with COPD and Emphysema. One of my doctors told me about certain doctors and pharmacies playing with trials. It's disheartening at best. And I agree, how does that give hope to anyone?
May I ask what brings you to Connect and how can we help?
About 12 years ago a friend was in trial at Cleveland Clinic for atherosclerosis a shot for six weeks of ApoA-1 Milano. Great results, Pfizer came in, pulled trial, paid 1.25 billion for all rights. This made possible all the money drug companies made on statin drugs. I was having flares every six months until I found good pulmonary, he put me on Zithromax three times a week m-w-f and started me on lung flute twice a day. My flares are now about every 2-3 years.
I learned that Mayo is running stem cell trials for COPD. I understand the last trial was a disappointment with only 5-10% reporting substantial improvements. Still, 5-10% gives me hope. I'm trying to be included in the next trial, maybe by then they will have figured how to improve the outcomes.