Are antibiotics effective against copd?

No: As COPD really only refers to the "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease", which is a structural lung issue, antibiotics are not effective against it. COPD patients, though, have a higher tendency to have bacterial lung illnesses, which is when you would employ antibiotics.

Yes: Antibiotics don't fix copd, but they are useful as part of the treatment, along with steroids, for flares of such. 51% of flares of COPD (exacerbations) are due to bacterial infection.

No: Think of COPD as difficulty moving air in and out of your lungs either because the lungs have lost resiliancy (emphysema) or because the airways have become scarred over the years and block the flow (chronic bronchitis). Neither of these is caused by a bacteria so antibiotics dont help, however both make you more likely to get infections (pneumonia) thus needing antibiotics.

No: Antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections, which COPD is not.

No: Antibiotics are used in flare-ups of COPD in which a bacterial infection is also involved, but antibiotics in general do not treat or cure copd. Other inhalers and sometimes oxygen are necessary to help control copd. The best treatment for COPD is smoke avoidance.

Yes: Antibiotics are usually effective against COPD usually in conjunction with steroids, and nebulizer treatments. Because it is a chronic conduction, usually these patients develop antibiotic resistances and may need hospitalization for iv's, oxygen or in extreme cases intubation.

No: Only if there is acute infection in a patient with cop. These patient often have infectious exacerbation due to poor cilliary clearance.

No: People with COPD are often at increased risk of developing lung infections (e.g. Bronchitis, pneumonia). These infections cause inflammation and increased mucus production which makes the symptoms of COPD much worse. Treating these infections with antibiotics can help improve the "worsened" symptoms caused by the infection, but not the underlying condition and symptoms related to COPD itself.

Possibly: A recent double blind study established that patient who have frequent exacerbations of COPD benefit from being place on suppressive dose of Azithromycin given chronically over several months.

No....: Copd, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is usually a result of smoking and not infection. Therefore, unless an infection complicates the disease, antibiotics are not warranted.