VIDEO: Current, future treatment options in COPD

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And now what we mean about the future of the COPD, there are several inhalers that are going to be coming out in the future. One's going to be a nebulized product, that's a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. We have a PO Phosphodiesterase Inhibitor now. We have certain monoclonal antibodies that are going to be available in the future to treat this inflammation. When you're looking at patients with COPD, I really think it's important to understand what type of inflammation they have.

When we look in the body, there's Type-1, there's Type-2, there's Type-3, there's TH17, there's inflammation that can happen as a result of smoking a cigarette or as a result of inhaling your environment, right? And so when you're looking for this inflammation, this allows you to have options of using other therapies to treat it. And although we don't have the indication to treat COPD yet, with these monoclonal antibodies, these are probably coming in the future. But you want to look for it. You want to get that CBC of a differential. Understand if there is eosinophilia present. So that Eosinophil Count is up there, 150, 300, 400, 500, which I see significantly in COPD, that's type-2 inflammation. So you might want to think about, "Does this patient need a future Monoclonal Antibody Therapy or does this patient demonstrate significant Reactive Airway Disease?" And perhaps their diagnosis is asthma, which opens them up for all kinds of monoclonal antibody therapies.

Again, get that CBC with diff, look for Eosinophil Count, understand if they're on oral corticosteroids. If they are, it's going to be much lower. Get that IgE level. And if you can get a pheno, you want to get a pheno, because that pheno above 20 parts per billion is going to signify Type-2 Inflammation. When I am talking to individuals, that's what I'm assessing for. I'm looking for that and I teach them what's going on in their body. I teach them Emphysema, Chronic Bronchitis, Asthma, Inflammation. I help them understand what the molecules are doing that I'm prescribing. We use this term Side Effects a lot, right? "Oh, there's side effects, there's side effects, there's side effects." And there are, but these are also, just effects of the medication. When you understand the mechanism with which the medication is working, the side effects are not side effects, they're just effects. And so we have to explain that to patients.