Early intervention in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A review of the Lung Health Study results.

The major findings of the LHS that have been reported thus far are that an effective smoking cessation program can be developed that can produce more than a 20% success rate in getting smokers to give up the habit permanently, and that by stopping smoking, individuals with early COPD benefit by having an initial improvement in lung function and a slowing of the annual loss of their FEV1. The use of a bronchodilator has a short-term effect in improving the FEV1, but it does not affect long-term changes in lung function. AHR is common in patients with mild-to-moderate COPD.

The reward for a smoker to give up the habit is an initial gain in FEV1 and a subsequent close to normal annual rate of decline of this pulmonary function parameter. These results should provide a positive incentive for smokers to quit and thereby decrease the morbidity and mortality caused by the use of tobacco.