This book rests on the premise that current and future scientific information are and will be based primarily on knowledge of the immunology and inflammation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). From pathophysiology, and its clinical, functional, and radiological consequences, to current and future treatments gravitate to the understanding of the molecular biology of the entity. For this reason, the book has four easy-to-identify sections. The first 4 chapters address immune recognition, inflammation, immunology, mitochondrial dysfunction, and the rheological properties of bronchial mucus. That is, the bases of the immunological and inflammatory profiles of COPD. The second section confronts COPD associated with other etiologies not associated with smoking, which is a subgroup of COPD that is “in crescendo”. The third section discusses the treatment of COPD, and the fourth section is made up of 2 required chapters on the topic: differential diagnosis and similarities with bronchial asthma and the impact of COVID-19 on COPD and bronchial asthma.
The main objective is to give the reader updated, comprehensive, and concise information on these molecular profiles, sometimes not well understood, amalgamating various chapters, in such a way that they are not seen as separate topics but rather as “a whole”, as if they were different surfaces of a prism.
If the book gives medical students, clinicians, and researchers a better perspective on COPD, we will be satisfied.
Dedicated to Carmen, María, Nico, Jojo, and Pedro.
