COPD and Smoking: December 2006 Archives

Patients with obstructive lung diseases receive only about 55 percent of recommended medical care, according to a study that reflects the increasing health-care challenges of an aging population.

"The quality of care provided to patients with obstructive lung diseases is not as good as it should be or needs to be," said Dr. Richard Mularski, with Kaiser's Portland-based Center for Health Research.

Mularski is lead author of the study, which was published in the December issue of the journal Chest. The RAND Corp. study is part of the largest examination of the quality of American health care ever undertaken.

The average adult gets two to four colds a year, and if they're around children, it doubles. While there is a whole host of medications claiming to make your cough better, new research finds many don't work. A new study finds more effective help may be available from some unlikely candidates.

Cough medicines are a multi-billion-dollar industry. The vast assortment is nothing to sneeze at, but what has confused many patients is recent research which found many of these cough medicines don't work for most coughs.

Dr. Richard Irwin headed up a worldwide study. He found expectorants -- medicines that help remove mucus -- and the newer non-drowsy medicines are ineffective against cough caused by the common cold.