COPD Guidelines

The only proven treatment that slows this inevitable decline in function is stopping smoking. 1-1 1-2 Most patients only present to the health service with moderate to severe disease at a stage when jobs are threatened or lost, and lifestyle limited. Since the damage is irreparable, it is logical to consider prevention at an earlier stage and preferably before symptoms develop. [...]it should be pointed out that a recent paper in the BMJ describing the prospective Renfrewshire population 1-5 showed that FEV1 was a stronger predictor of premature death than serum cholesterol measurements and as strong a predictor as cholesterol when only heart disease was considered.