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Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a main cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Its complications are numerous and one of their most common extra-pulmonary ones is cognitive impairment which is directly related to its mortality and morbidity. A decrease in cerebral perfusion in these patients had been seen in previous studies considering the role of VEGF on angiogenesis and its role in the pathogenesis of COPD. This study was done to evaluate the relation of cognitive impairment with serum VEGF and the number of COPD exacerbations., Materials and Methods: In the present study, 87 patients whom the pulmonologist confirmed their COPD disease based on spirometry testing were enrolled. The blood sample was received for serum VEGF level measurement and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) questionnaire was completed to assess the cognitive function. The number of exacerbations was also recorded. The blood sample was received from 87 other age and sex-matched persons without a history of pulmonary disease, CVA, or MI. Their VEGF level was also measured. The data was analyzed by SPSS version 20 software., Results: In the COPD group, 42 (48.28%) had no cognitive impairment, 39 (44.83%) had mild, and 6(6.89%) had moderate cognitive impairment. In this group, there was a significant relation between the score of the MMSE questionnaire and the number of COPD exacerbations during the past year. However, there was no significant relation between VEGF and cognitive impairment., Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, there was no significant relation between cognitive impairment and VEGF level. There was a significant relation between cognitive impairment and the number of COPD exacerbations. Also, there was a significant difference between the serum level of VEGF among COPD patients and the control group., (Copyright© 2023 National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.)

Background: Asthma is one of the most severe and life-threatening health problems, the better control of which is one of the main goals in asthma management to be achieved by patients' balanced participation in the treatment process. This study aimed to investigate asthma control, perceived care, and health care participation in patients with asthma., Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study included 221 asthmatic patients, who were selected using the convenience sampling method from those referring to pulmonary clinics in Kerman, Iran. The required data were collected using three questionnaires including Asthma Control Test (ACT), Perceived Care of Asthma Questionnaire (PCAQ), and Partners in Health Scale (PIH). The linear regression test was used to analyze the collected data with SPSS software version 21., Results: In this study, 14.31, 42.22, and 87.33% of the patients had a favorable condition in asthma control, perceived asthma care, health participation, respectively. The disease duration was significantly associated with the level of perceived asthma care. Moreover, perceived asthma care had a significant relationship only with occupation. From another perspective, the relationship between marital status, level of education, city of residence, disease duration, and occupation with health care participation was significant., Conclusion: Patients would have more control over asthma if there were training programs underpinned by disease-based strategies and educational content regarding the risk factors of the disease, and the patients' experience and knowledge of the disease were promoted. Furthermore, reinforcing self-control and perceived asthma care skills and involving patients in healthcare process would also enhance the disease control., (Copyright© 2021 National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.)

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the most common chronic diseases all around the world. One of suggested risk factors for COPD is Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). The aim of this study was investigation of the association between micro-aspiration of bile acid and pepsin with exacerbation attacks in COPD patients., Materials and Methods: The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Fifty-two COPD patients were selected by simple sampling from patients referring to the Bessat Lung Clinic. Participants were divided into two groups of with and without COPD exacerbation history in the past year. The severity of the disease was determined based on the GOLD criteria (mild, moderate, severe and very severe). Then, all patients underwent bronchoscopy and the concentrations of bile acid and pepsin were compared in Broncho-Alveolar Lavage Fluid (BALF) of two groups., Results: The mean of bile acids in the group without COPD exacerbations was lower (27.38±3.26 μmol/Lit) than the group with COPD exacerbations (32.31±5.35 μmol/Lit) and this difference was not significant (P=0.436). The mean of pepsin in the first group was higher (118.46 ±15.44 ng/ml) than the second group (107.88±10.7 ng/ml) and this difference was also not significant (P=0.577)., Conclusion: According to the results of this study, there is no association between disease severity and number of exacerbations with micro-aspiration of bile acid and pepsin in COPD patients., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors have no conflict of interest.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The complications of COPD are numerous, and cognitive impairment is one of the most common complications that relates to mortality and morbidity directly. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with COPD in comparison to normal individuals., Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 87 patients with COPD, whose diagnoses were confirmed by a pulmonologist based on the spirometry test findings, were included. The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) questionnaire was administered for assessing the cognitive impairment. Arterial oxygen saturation was measured. The MMSE questionnaires were administered to 60 healthy, age-and-sex-matched individuals without a history of myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular infarction, and their arterial oxygen saturations were measured. The data were analyzed using the SPSS (version 20) software., Results: In the case group, 42 patients (48.27%) had no cognitive impairment, 39 (44.82%) had mild, and 6 (6.89%) had moderate cognitive impairment. In the control group, 38 (63.33%) had no cognitive impairment, 20 (33.33%) mild and 2 (3.33 %) moderate cognitive impairment. There were significant relationships between the cognitive impairment and arterial oxygen saturation, severity of COPD, and higher age. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 51.71% in the case group and 36.66% in the control group., Conclusion: According the results of the present study, COPD increased the risk of cognitive impairment significantly and is related to the severity of COPD, arterial oxygen saturation, and higher age.