AstraZeneca Plc’s inhaled corticosteroid drug Pulmicort may help reduce heart attacks and angina in patients with “smoker’s lung,” or COPD, researchers said on Monday.A new analysis of a previous 1,175-patient study found that off 49 patients who experienced adverse cardio-ischemic events, 37 percent were on the drug and 63 percent on placebo.This suggests chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is more than just a respiratory disease and that doctors should evaluate not only airflow but also cardiovascular outcomes, said Professor Claes-Goran Lofdahl of Lund University, Sweden, who conducted the analysis.
