Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of disability, morbidity and the third leading cause of death worldwide. Therapies which stabilize or reverse the disease course are urgently needed. While macrolides have shown to be beneficial in some COPD groups to lower risk of acute exacerbations, it is unknown whether these could be utilized more broadly to prevent or stop disease progression in the general population.

Therefore, this project aims to explore potential beneficial effects of macrolides on lung health in the general population. Modelling approaches including propensity score matching to minimize confounding by indication, will be applied to further unravel underlying mechanisms and to better predict which adult to elderly persons may benefit from earlier macrolide therapies.

This macrolide-project may increase our understanding of anti-inflammatory mechanisms required to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with impaired lung function at older age.