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Previous Volume 360:2445-2454 June 4, 2009 Number 23 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of illness and death throughout the world. It affects about 10% of the general population,¹ but its prevalence among heavy smokers can reach 50%.² COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in most industrialized countries, and it is projected to be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020.¹ Tobacco smoking is the primary risk factor for the development of COPD, but other factors, such as burning biomass fuels for cooking and heating, are important causes of COPD in many developing countries.^3,4

A principal feature of COPD is a . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Mechanisms Leading to COPD

Step 1 — Initial Response to Cigarette Smoke

Step 2 — T-Cell Activation and Proliferation

Step 3 — Adaptive Immune Reaction

Evidence of Autoimmunity in COPD

Why Some Smokers Evade COPD

Conclusions

Source Information

From the Respiratory Division at Royal Victoria Hospital and the Meakins-Christie Laboratories in the Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal (M.G.C.); the Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Sciences, Section of Respiratory Diseases, University of Padua, Padua, Italy (M.S.); and Hospital Universitario Son Dureta, Fundación Caubet-Cimera, and the Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red (CIBER) Enfermedades Respiratorias, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain (A.A.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Cosio at McGill University, Respiratory Division, Royal Victoria Hospital, 687 Pine Ave., W., Rm. L4.11, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada, or at manuel.cosio@mcgill.ca.

Related Letters:

Immunologic Aspects of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Lamela J., Vega F.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2009; 361:1024, Sep 3, 2009. Correspondence

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