COPD as a comorbidity of asthma
Cass S., Russell REK.
This chapter covers how asthma and COPD can coexist. This subject has been covered in thousands of academic studies and opinion pieces since asthma and COPD were first defined. This has, in part, led to the drive towards personalised care and thus not simply accepting poorly defined arbitrary diagnostic labels. This approach is based upon a patient’s predominant phenotypic traits, which can predict response to treatment and prognosis. In this context, this chapter looks critically at the concept of a true overlap syndrome. Finally, there are significant immunological, pathological and phenotypic similarities between COPD and severe asthma and a potential unifying mechanism is described that may present future therapeutic opportunities.