In the United States, a large number of smokers present with respiratory symptoms that do not correspond to any known tobacco-related pathology.
- Millions of smokers suffer from lung diseases that do not meet any existing diagnostic criteria.
- These patients have persistent respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath, daily cough and sputum.
- However, their results on the breath tests used to diagnose COPD are normal.
People who smoke could expose themselves to as yet unknown diseases. This was revealed by researchers from the University of California (USA) in a study published in the journal JAMA Network. As part of the work, the team used data from 1,379 people aged 40 to 80 who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years or more. The researchers compared them to information from adults who had never been exposed to tobacco and who had no airway obstruction. Participants underwent spirometry, a 6-minute walk distance test, assessment of respiratory symptoms, and CT scans of their lungs, at annual visits for 5 to 10 years.
Respiratory diseases: symptoms that do not correspond to any of the existing criteria
According to the results, half of the participants had a high level of persistent respiratory symptoms, including shortness of breath, cough and phlegm, as well as decreased ability to exercise, but performed well on respiratory tests. used to diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a chronic inflammatory disease of the bronchi.
“We found that many people with high tobacco exposure have the same symptoms as people with COPD, but cannot be diagnosed as such because their forced expiratory volume/expiratory volume ratio and total forced vital capacity are considered normal by spirometry. This shows that there is a significant gap in the effective management of people exposed to tobacco and underscores the need for further studies to find ways to help them.” said William McKleroy, author of the study, in a statement.
Expanding the definition of tobacco-related lung diseases to develop treatments
According to the authors, the definition of smoking-related lung disease needs to be broadened so that new treatments can be developed. “Even in people who have no respiratory symptoms and normal respiratory tests, smoking continues to harm their lungs. The study results underscore the importance of smoking cessation, the need for regular monitoring of smokers with and without symptoms, and call for more research to treat respiratory symptoms due to smoking,” explained James Kiley, director of the division of pulmonary diseases at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
