Small Lungs and Obstructed Airways: Reassessing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease proposes an alternative perspective to current explanations for the distribution of chronic lung disease. The book considers the link between chronic respiratory disease and associated mortality with smaller lungs rather than obstructed airways and explores other factors contributing to poor lung health besides the current emphasis on the roles of air pollution, occupational exposures, and cardio-metabolic disease. It presents the findings of the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study, sharing new views on the prevalence of obstructive lung disease and risk factors across various global regions. Sections cover decreased lung function, including the prevalent views on the impact of both household and external air pollution, occupational exposure, and the prenatal and postnatal/childhood environment in the etiology of impaired lung function and COPD. The book then moves on to discussions on the impact poverty and nutrition has on lung health, sharing the findings of the BOLD study regarding its effect on lung function and risk of COPD in lower-income countries. The book closes with a chapter outlining the clinical and public health implications of the findings discussed in the book.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 2. How much lung function is too little? 3. The role of the environment: Household and outdoor air pollution 4. Occupational exposures 5. Infection 6. Poverty 7. Diet 8. Early life origins of impaired lung function and associated comorbidities 9. The clinical and public health implication 10. Afterword
Authors
Peter Burney Emeritus Professor of Respiratory Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College, London, UK. Peter Burney is emeritus professor of respiratory epidemiology and public health at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College, London, UK. He held posts as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals and spent a year as a visiting associate professor in the department of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, USA.He was Honorary Director of the Department of Health's Social Medicine and Health Services Research Unit 1994-2011 and Chairman for the Division of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences (KCL) 1998-2005. Since initiating the European Community Respiratory Health Survey in 1988 he has had leading roles on several international studies. The most recent involvement has been as principal investigator for the extension to the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) to more low-income countries and BOLD II, a follow-up study.
