Goodness, how time flies. I am not the world's greatest blogger being so busy with my work advocating the legalization of safe adult stem cell therapy in the U.S. (www.safestemcells.org), the Stem Cell Pioneers forum and the COPDliving forum, but I have to post something that came my way that is so outrageous I have seen nothing but red since reading it. Here goes -

Researcher Receives Millions To Study COPD posted at Tyler paper.com August 23, 2009
By COSHANDRA DILLARD
Staff Writer

Dr. David Coultas, physician in chief and chair of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, is continuing work with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with the help of a five-year, $3.25 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health.

The study is continued from one that Dr. Coultas conducted while at the University of Florida about 10 years ago. He will borrow a model from a 1990s Cooper Institute of Dallas study, in which sedentary people were encouraged to undergo 30 minutes of moderate physical activity for at least five times a week with the help of a workbook.


The method was proven to be as successful as working out with a personal trainer to improve health. Dr. Coultas said he believes the model, which emphasizes self management skills and education, will be just as successful in patients with chronic illness.

COPD is a condition that affects nearly 11 million Americans. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the country and another 24 million people have evidence of impaired lung function, according to American Lung Association reports.

"The prevalence of COPD in the general population is 5-15 percent. It varies by age," Dr. Coultas said.

There are 30,000 patients aged 45 and older in an eight-county region of East Texas with COPD.

If the study is successful, Dr. Coultas said he would encourage local health facilities to implement the program to benefit those patients.

He said a self-management program for sufferers will help them better understand the illness and care for themselves.

Smoking is the main cause of COPD, which is characterized by emphysema or bronchitis.

Patients with the disease breathe with exertion and sometimes need oxygen.

Although pulmonary rehabilitation has been proven to work, physicians say that most patients do not take advantage of it. Pulmonary rehabilitation requires patients to go to a health center for several days a week. A lack of funding for these programs and transportation sometimes pose a problem for older people, particularly those living in rural areas.

"Pulmonary rehabilitation works but it is estimated that less than 2 percent of patients access those programs for many different reasons," he said. "The basic problem with COPD is shortness of breath and because of the exertion, they stop doing things."

Dr. Coultas noted that pulmonary rehabilitation is cost effective because it decreases flare ups, emergency room visits and hospital stays. Bringing it to patients' homes will make it more feasible, he said.

THE STUDY

The clinical trial is expected to begin in mid-April and last through June 2014. Dr. Coultas said 300 patients will be randomly selected from physician offices.

At the beginning of the study, an assessment will be given to measure quality of life and then reevaluated at the end of the study. Patients will be randomly chosen and assigned to two groups. One will receive basic information about how to manage COPD while the other group will also receive a workbook and telephone support. The group with a workbook and telephone support will have an initial face-to-face meeting with a health coordinator who will follow up with the patient by telephone throughout the 18-month study. Patients will be encouraged to follow a regime that includes at least 30 minutes of physical activity for at least five days a week.

Dr. Coultas said the program is an extension of care provided by patients' primary care physician.

"It's almost like a coach. This is pulmonary rehabilitation at the next level," he said. "We're not taking over care. We are supplementing care with behavioral intervention."

He added, "The goal is to improve quality of life."

Dr. Coultas will be assisted by physicians at other facilities including the University of Texas at Tyler and the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.


This is the biggest waste of taxpayer dollars I have come across in a long time. The NIH has got to stop wasting our money on 10 year old studies and allow funding for meaningful research that is geared towards finding a cure for COPD. I have been hounding the NIH and they sent me a list of meaningless studies such as this along with the suggestion for a doctor that might help me manage my disease better. Between the NIH and groups like the American Lung Association that are going full steam ahead, no holes barred, to ban candy cigarettes, there will never be anything close to a cure unless private research steps up to the plate or we fund it ourselves. How stupid does everyone think we are to think we will continue to be satisfied with meaningless research projects and non profit groups that are more interested in keeping their own jobs? A cure would mean they would have to find other work now, wouldn't it? We must fight back. This is insanity.