Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: aetiology, pathology, physiology and outcome
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a physiological diagnosis made on the basis of airflow obstruction. It develops when a genetically susceptible individual encounters sufficient inhaled environmental triggers. Genetic susceptibility is complex and determined by multiple alleles, with emphysema from α1-antitrypsin deficiency being a rare exception of well-described genetic risk. Cigarette smoke is the most common trigger in higher income countries, but globally the burning of biomass fuel in underventilated spaces is an important contributor to COPD.
Source: Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Daryl Cheng, John R. Hurst Tags: Chronic obstructive lung disease Source Type: research
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