Airwaves
Early origins of COPD
We know that the early life environment is important in development of asthma, but there has been less focus on early origins of COPD. Susceptibility to COPD could also be affected by factors determined in early life. In this issue Svanes and colleagues report on data from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). The results show that with early life disadvantage permanently lower lung function is seen with no age catch-up and increased COPD risk. The impact of these early life factors was similar or even greater than the effects of smoking. In the accompanying editorial Mannino explains why there is now interest in the early origins of COPD. However he also stresses that in …
