COPD DEVELOPS IN YOUNG ADULTS

The GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) guidelines include a stage 0, an “at risk” category which describes individuals in whom there is no airflow obstruction but chronic symptoms such as cough and sputum are present. In this issue of Thorax we publish a key paper by de Marco and colleagues from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey in which data from 18 000 young adults (aged 20–44 years) were analysed. Data are presented for the prevalence of COPD of different stages for the countries participating in the survey. The authors found a prevalence of 11.8% for GOLD stage 0, with an association with moderate to heavy smoking. Childhood respiratory infections, low socioeconomic status, occupational exposure, and greater healthcare resource use were associated with GOLD stage 0, showing that similar risk factors were present …