Dr. Susan Moore had spent 18 years as a pulmonologist in Chicago. Thousands of COPD patients. Every treatment plan followed exactly as recommended.

Her patients would have a flare-up. Take prednisone. Feel better. Then 8-10 weeks later—another flare-up.

"That's just COPD," her colleagues told her. "We manage it with steroids when it flares."

Dr. Moore accepted that. Until Robert Chen.

Robert was 59. Stage 3 COPD. He did everything his doctors told him to do.

Took NAC 600mg twice daily for over a year. Drank mullein tea every morning. Did breathing exercises religiously. Cut out perfumes, switched all his cleaners, bought air purifiers.

His doctor prescribed a maintenance inhaler. He never missed a dose.

Nothing prevented the flare-ups.

Six flare-ups in fourteen months. Each one landed him in the ER. Each one required prednisone.

Dr. Moore had seen what repeated prednisone use did to her long-term patients. Weight gain that wouldn't stop. Bone density scans that got worse every year. One patient fractured three ribs from coughing. Another broke her hip at 63—her bones had turned brittle from years of steroid use.

Robert was heading down that same path. Six rounds in just over a year.

"I'm doing everything right," Robert said during his sixth ER visit. "I take the NAC every single day. The mullein tea. The breathing exercises. But every two months, I wake up and can't breathe."

Dr. Moore increased his NAC to 1200mg daily. Added turmeric and cordyceps supplements.

Three months later—another flare-up. More prednisone.

Robert's wife called in tears. "He's spent over $600 on supplements. He's gained 18 pounds from all the prednisone. Why does this keep happening?"

Dr. Moore didn't have an answer.