Thorax
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There is a need to re-evaluate the concept of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as separate conditions, and to consider situations when they may coexist, or when one condition may evolve into the other. Epidemiological studies show that in older people with obstructive airway disease, as many as half or more may have overlapping diagnoses of asthma and COPD (overlap syndrome). These people are typically excluded from current therapy trials, which limit the generalisability of these trials, and this presents a problem for evidence-based guidelines for obstructive airway diseases. ⋯ Overlap syndrome can develop when there is accelerated decline in lung function, or incomplete lung growth, or both. The risk factors for these events are shared, such that increasing age, bronchial hyper-responsiveness, tobacco smoke exposure, asthma and lower respiratory infections/exacerbations are significant risk factors for both incomplete lung growth and accelerated loss of lung function. Studying these events may offer new insights into the mechanisms and treatment of obstructive airway diseases.
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Interleukin-6 (IL6) is a pleiotropic pro-inflammatory and immunomodulatory cytokine which probably plays an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is a functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), -174G/C, in the promoter region of IL6. It was hypothesised that IL6 SNPs influence susceptibility for impaired lung function and COPD in smokers. ⋯ The results suggest that the IL6_-174G/C SNP is associated with a rapid decline in FEV(1) and susceptibility to COPD in smokers.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Nocturnal non-invasive nasal ventilation in stable hypercapnic COPD: a randomised controlled trial.
Sleep hypoventilation has been proposed as a cause of progressive hypercapnic respiratory failure and death in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A study was undertaken to determine the effects of nocturnal non-invasive bi-level pressure support ventilation (NIV) on survival, lung function and quality of life in patients with severe hypercapnic COPD. ⋯ Nocturnal NIV in stable oxygen-dependent patients with hypercapnic COPD may improve survival, but this appears to be at the cost of worsening quality of life.
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Urban air pollution can trigger asthma exacerbations, but the effects of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution on lung function or onset of airway disease and allergic sensitisation in children is less clear. ⋯ The results of this study suggest that residential traffic-related air pollution exposure is associated with reduced expiratory flows in schoolchildren.