SCOTTISH scientists are to use drugs normally used to combat heart disease and high blood pressure in a potential “game changer” trial on patients with a chronic lung condition that kills tens of thousands of people every year.
A trial coordinated by the University of Aberdeen will try to find out if the drugs can benefit sufferers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a long-term lung condition caused by smoking which slowly worsens.
COPD affects 1.2 million people across the UK and is the fifth leading cause of death in the UK, resulting in 30,000 fatalities.
The disease causes a narrowing of the airways, which in turn causes breathing problems, often accompanied by a persistent cough and chest infections. There is no cure for COPD, which costs the NHS £1 billion per year, and it can be difficult to treat.
A feature of the disease are sudden “flare-ups”, which leave sufferers more breathless, wheezy and more likely to cough. These flare-ups shorten life expectancy and impact people’s ability to get on with their daily life.
Around 60% of the £1bn spent on treating the condition is used to combat such flare-ups.
The trial, which is being run from multiple centres across the UK – including Aberdeen and Dundee – will treat COPD patients with beta-blocker drugs which are more commonly used in the treatment of high blood pressure and heart disease.
Scientists say there is evidence that beta-blockers can reduce flare-ups in people with COPD, even if they do not also have a heart condition.
Older beta-blockers had side-effects on lungs, but the newer, so-called selective beta-blockers targeting the heart are safe for COPD sufferers to use. The trial, which is funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research, will recruit more than 1500 patients with COPD from 160 centres across the country. Half of them will be given a beta-blocker (bisoprolol) with the other half given a placebo in order to see if the beta-blocker reduces the number of flare-ups.
Professor Brian Lipworth of the Scottish Centre of Respiratory Disease at the University of Dundee said: “We have already shown that bisoprolol is safe to use in COPD in this trial we will assess if bisoprolol might decrease exacerbations of COPD with the ultimate aim to see if it might improve survival.”
Professor Graham Devereux, from the University of Aberdeen, said: “One of the problems with COPD is that despite improvements in inhalers, COPD continues to be a major problem.
“The evidence that beta-blockers might help people with COPD is very exciting and a potential game changer in our approach to this disease.”
Dave Bertin, of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland added: “We are delighted to be involved in this important study.
“Through our Voices Scotland team we have used the views of people living with COPD to help shape the research.”
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