Editorial

Better Awareness, Better Service: Seeking Currently Optimal Strategies Against the “Preventable and Treatable” Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Authors: Jun Shu, MD, PhD

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of pulmonary diseases that share the characteristic of airflow limitation, which is progressive and not fully reversible. In the case of COPD, most commonly, a patient's lungs are affected, but involvement of the extrapulmonary organs, such as the heart, also occurs. The disease is very widespread, with a considerably high prevalence among world populations; the rate of mortality has shown an increase in recent years along with only a few other chronic diseases, and this trend was estimated as continuing into the future.1,2 The high morbidity and mortality associated with COPD may be attributable to an aging population, cigarette smoking, or the inhalation of deleterious dusts, chemicals, or gases, while the interaction of genetic and environmental factors also plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of COPD.

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References

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6. Shu J. Toward a standardized definition and severity classification of COPD exacerbations. South Med J 2009;102:233–234.