COPD: Pathogenesis, Epidemiology, and the Role of Cigarette Smoke
What every physician needs to know: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to all lung diseases characterized by a decrease in expiratory airflow that is not completely reversible. The term is usually employed in describing increased resistance to airflow in the small airways caused by excessive inflammation following chronic exposure to noxious inhaled substances. In…
