Future Developments in Acute Exacerbations of COPD

Current therapies are poorly effective in both preventing and treating acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) (1). This indicates the need to find more effective drug therapies, and this will depend on a better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in acute exacerbations and improved diagnosis of the causal mechanisms involved. An exacerbation may be an amplification of existing pathology and may include additional pathological mechanisms that are added to existing pathology.