Young adults (ages 20 to 44) with normal lung function who later
develop chronic cough and phlegm have a fourfold higher risk of
developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The
results of this 10-year respiratory study appear in the first
issue for January 2007 of the American Journal of Respiratory
and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic
Society. Isa Cerveri, M.D., of the Division of Respiratory
Diseases at San Matteo Hospital and University of Pavia in
Italy, and 19 associates showed that the presence of chronic
cough and phlegm among study participants was an independent and
statistically significant predictor of COPD. Of the 5,002
individuals in the study cohort, 123 were diagnosed with COPD.
All participants had normal lung function at baseline. COPD is
the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, killing
122,283 Americans in 2003. It results from chronic bronchitis
and emphysema, two lung diseases which frequently co-exist and
cause obstruction to airflow t