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COPD remains a major cause of ill health, disability, healthcare costs and premature mortality. Scientists and clinicians across many countries have made great efforts to understand this important disease, and these have yielded positive results. This Monograph provides an up-to-date overview of what is happening in this exciting field, both at a basic and a clinical level. Beginning, crucially, with the patient's perspective, the chapters that follow consider the best way to define COPD, changes in the disease's incidence and prevalence, and offer new insights into the role of the microbiome in COPD, advances in imaging and treatment options, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological. Taken together, these chapters are an important contribution to the Monograph series and the COPD field in general.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (often known as COPD) is a respiratory disease that affects more than 400 million people worldwide. In 2019, COPD was responsible for 3.23 million deaths globally. This makes COPD the third greatest cause of mortality worldwide. People with COPD frequently experience increasing levels of breathlessness as the disease advances. This can cause a significant financial burden due to the limitations on workplace and home productivity, and costs of medical treatment. Therefore, delivering comprehensive management for people living with COPD is important to lessen such a burden. This book intends to provide comprehensive expert review chapters on the most significant aspects in the management of COPD from diagnosis to treatment through clear insights and explanations. It offers thorough evaluations that provide clinicians involved in COPD management at all levels with a brief, all-encompassing reference to symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. This book covers four major areas in COPD management, including disease physiology and pathophysiology, diagnosis tools, disease burden, and management of stable and non-stable COPD.