MedWire News: Smokersandnon-smokerswith asthma gain similar benefits from budesonidetherapyin termsof limiting their lungfunctiondecline, researchshows.
Pirfenidone is InterMune's investigational drug candidate for the treatment of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis to reduce decline in lungfunction.
While the risk reduction is relatively small, 10 percent, COPD is a common and life-threatening condition in which a decline in lungfunction can be slowed down but not reversed.
While a 2006 French study found that people with diets high in beta-carotene had a slower decline in lungfunction over an eight-year period, heavy smokers and drinkers may not benefit.