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Airwaves

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UNDERDIAGNOSIS OF COPD IN THE UK
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, yet little is known about its true prevalence. In this issue of Thorax we publish a paper by Shahab and colleagues with a commentary by Mannino that describes the first large scale estimate of spirometrically defined COPD in England using data on adults over age 35 from the Health Survey for England (HSE). The major features are that spirometry defined COPD was present in 13.3% of participants and over 80% reported no respiratory problems. Of concern is the finding that in those with severe or very severe COPD, only 46.8% reported any respiratory diagnosis. Smoking prevalence also increased with disease severity and smokers with COPD were more cigarette dependent. The authors conclude that as the Lung Health Study showed smoking cessation to improve lung function decline and mortality from COPD, the imperative to stop cigarette smoking in . . . [Full text of this article]

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