COPD impairs heart function

Link between lung and heart function strongest for smokers

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD has been shown to diminish the heart’s ability to pump effectively even when the disease has no or mild symptoms according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Although researchers were aware that severe cases of COPD have negative effects on heart function, the new results suggest that these changes in the heart occur much earlier than previously believed in mild cases and even before symptoms appear.

COPD is strongly associated with smoking, and is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. It was found that the link between lung and heart function was strongest in current smokers, who are at risk for both diseases, and especially in those with emphysema. The findings also appeared, to a lesser extent, in people with mild COPD who had never smoked.

Source: National Institutes of Health News, 20 January 2010.

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