By Lee Hui Chieh

PEOPLE suffering from smoking-related lung disease are less likely to die if they take a particular drug every day, a study has found.

The results of the large international study have identified tiotropium as the only drug capable of improving the survival rate of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), said Dr Ong Kian Chung, a consultant respiratory physician in private practice.

The drug has been here for seven to eight years, but has not been widely used as it is relatively expensive.

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