Redefiniendo la enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (EPOC): Una necesidad urgente

Resumen

Despite therapeutic advances, COPD continues to be a highly prevalent disease with significant morbidity and mortality, highlighting the ineffectiveness of current management strategies focused on treating its irreversible consequences. One of the main reasons for this is the misconception of the disease, based exclusively on spirometric obstruction as a diagnostic criterion. This late-stage approach does not allow for early detection or the development of preventive or curative interven­tions. Since lung function can start to deteriorate from early stages of life, influenced by genetic and environmental factors that impact different stages of and individual's life, leading to different trajectories of FEV1, which will ultimately lead to the development of COPD in adulthood, this disease should no longer be considered exclusive to adult smokers and should be understood as a pathological process with variable onset and multiple factors. To implement these concepts into clinical practice, the concept of “Pre-COPD” should be incorporated, allowingfor early detection and prevention strategies, focusing on preventing lung damage from early stages of life, before it becomes irreversible. Only then will it be possible to change the course of the disease and move toward its prevention or even a cure.