The Lung Health Study

doi:10.1001/jama.1994.03520190085040

The Lung Health Study

Disappointment and Triumph

Nicholas J. Gross, MD, PhD

From the Departments of Medicine and Molecular Biochemistry, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University of Chicago, Maywood, III, and Medical Service, Edward Hines Jr Veterans Affairs Hospital, Hines, Ill.; From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, DC.

Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.

Excerpt

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major and growing health problem throughout the world. In the United States, close to 13 million people were recognized to have the condition in 1986,¹ but even this staggering number is probably an underestimate.² Its annual cost was more than $12 billion in direct and indirect medical expenses in 1990. It is now the fourth leading cause of death in this country, with a mortality of more than 90 000 in 1991.³ These figures do not reveal an equally vital statistic, the great physical limitation and suffering of many of these patients in the last years of their lives. The principal etiologic factor, and by far the most potent one, cigarette smoking, has been known for decades. Moreover, the classic studies of Fletcher et al in the United Kingdom⁴ and the studies of many others

Footnotes

Reprint requests to PO Box 1430, Hines, IL 60141 (Dr Gross).
Reprint requests to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh St SW, Room 5220, Washington, DC 20590 (Dr Martinez).