Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Patients with COPD are
at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and lung cancer. Although some of the associations between COPD
and atherosclerosis may be the result of common risk factors such as smoking, epidemiological evidence suggest that impaired
lung function is a risk factor for increased cardiovascular death, independent of tobacco use. This phenomenon may be related
to common genetic predisposition for atherosclerosis and emphysema. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, like atherosclerosis,
is a disease of systemic inflammation and may hasten the progression of atherosclerosis and contribute to the higher rate
of death in COPD. This article reviews close relationship between COPD and cardiovascular diseases, mainly atherosclerosis.
The authors also present some preliminary data suggesting a possible influence of statin therapy on the clinical course of COPD.

Details

Title
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular diseases
Author
Passowicz-Muszyńska, Ewa 1 ; Gostkowska-Malec, Anna; Jankowska, Renata; Piesiak, Paweł

 Katedra i Klinika Pulmonologii i Nowotworów Płuc Akademii Medycznej we Wrocławiu Kierownik: prof. dr hab. n. med. R. Jankowska 
First page
28
End page
32
Publication year
2010
Publication date
2010
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
08677077
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2464199736
Copyright
© 2010. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.