COPD – the holistic perspective
Symposium Chairs: E. F. M. Wouters (Maastricht, The Netherlands), M. Cazzola (Rome, Italy)
Aims: This symposium will:
• emphasise the notion that COPD is often associated with other medical conditions (e.g. anaemia, heart failure and systemic inflammation) that may contribute to morbidity and mortality;
• provide an update on the possible mechanisms that may explain the strong association between COPD and cardiovascular disease;
• point out that smoking cessation is an important component of COPD management because of its direct influence on the driving aetiological factor and for its indirect beneficial effect on the smoking-related medical conditions frequently associated with COPD.