Changes in lung function in European adults born between 1884 and 1996 and implications for the diagnosis of lung disease: a cross-sectional analysis of ten population-based studies.

BACKGROUND: During the past century, socioeconomic and scientific advances have resulted in changes in the health and physique of European populations. Accompanying improvements in lung function, if unrecognised, could result in the misclassification of lung function measurements and misdiagnosis of lung diseases. We therefore investigated changes in population lung function with birth year across the past century, accounting for increasing population height, and examined how such changes might influence the interpretation of lung function measurements. METHODS: In our analyses of cross-sectional data from ten European population-based studies, we included individuals aged 20-94 years who were born between 1884 and 1996, regardless of previous respiratory diagnoses or symptoms. FEV1, forced vital capacity (FVC), height, weight, and smoking behaviour were measured between 1965 and 2016. We used meta-regression to investigate how FEV1 and FVC (adjusting for age, study, height, sex, smoking status, smoking pack-years, and weight) and the FEV1/FVC ratio (adjusting for age, study, sex, and smoking status) changed with birth year. Using estimates from these models, we graphically explored how mean lung function values would be expected to progressively deviate from predicted values. To substantiate our findings, we used linear regression to investigate how the FEV1 and FVC values predicted by 32 reference equations published between 1961 and 2015 changed with estimated birth year. FINDINGS: Across the ten included studies, we included 243 465 European participants (mean age 51·4 years, 95% CI 51·4-51·5) in our analysis, of whom 136 275 (56·0%) were female and 107 190 (44·0%) were male. After full adjustment, FEV1 increased by 4·8 mL/birth year (95% CI 2·6-7·0; p<0·0001) and FVC increased by 8·8 mL/birth year (5·7-12·0; p<0·0001). Birth year-related increases in the FEV1 and FVC values predicted by published reference equations corroborated these findings. This height-independent increase in FEV1 and FVC across the last century will have caused mean population values to progressively exceed previously predicted values. However, the population mean adjusted FEV1/FVC ratio decreased by 0·11 per 100 birth years (95% CI 0·09-0·14; p<0·0001). INTERPRETATION: If current diagnostic criteria remain unchanged, the identified shifts in European values will allow the easier fulfilment of diagnostic criteria for lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but the systematic underestimation of lung disease severity. FUNDING: The European Respiratory Society, AstraZeneca, Chiesi Farmaceutici, GlaxoSmithKline, Menarini, and Sanofi-Genzyme.

Bone mineral density and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women: the HUNT study.

The association between bone mineral density (BMD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not fully understood. We evaluated BMD as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and specifically atrial fibrillation (AF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), ischemic (IS) and hemorrhagic stroke (HS) and heart failure (HF) in men and women. This prospective population cohort utilized data on 22 857 adults from the second and third surveys of the HUNT Study in Norway free from CVD at baseline. BMD was measured using single and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in the non-dominant distal forearm and T-score was calculated. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated from adjusted cox proportional hazards models. The analyses were sex-stratified, and models were adjusted for age, age-squared, BMI, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol use, and education level. Additionally, in women, we adjusted for estrogen use and postmenopause. During a mean follow-up of 13.6 ± 5.7 years, 2 928 individuals (12.8%) developed fatal or non-fatal CVD, 1 020 AF (4.5%), 1 172 AMI (5.1%), 1 389 IS (6.1%), 264 HS (1.1%), and 464 HF (2.0%). For every 1 unit decrease in BMD T-score the HR for any CVD was 1.01 (95% CI 0.98 to 1.04) in women and 0.99 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.03) in men. Point estimates for the four cardiovascular outcomes ranged from slightly protective (HR 0.95 for AF in men) to slightly deleterious (HR 1.12 for HS in men). We found no evidence of association of lower distal forearm BMD with CVD, AF, AMI, IS, HS, and HF.

Contemporary perspectives in COPD: Patient burden, the role of gender and trajectories of multimorbidity.

An individual's experience of COPD is determined by many factors in addition to the pathological features of chronic bronchitis and emphysema and the symptoms that derive directly from them. Multimorbidity is the norm rather than the exception, so most people with COPD are living with a range of other medical problems which can decrease overall quality of life. COPD is caused by the inhalation of noxious particles or gases, in particular tobacco smoke, but also by early life disadvantage impairing lung development and by occupations where inhaled exposures are common (e.g. industrial, farming and cleaning work). Wealthy people are therefore relatively protected from developing COPD and people who do develop the condition may have reduced resources to cope. COPD is also no longer a condition that predominantly affects men. The prevalence of COPD among women has equalled that of men since 2008 in many high-income countries, due to increased exposure to tobacco, and in low-income countries due to biomass fuels. COPD is one of the leading causes of death in women in the USA, and death rates attributed to COPD in women in some countries are predicted to overtake those of men in the next decade. Many factors contribute to this phenomenon, but in addition to socioeconomic and occupational factors, there is increasing evidence of a higher susceptibility of females to smoking and pollutants. Quality of life is also more significantly impaired in women. Although most medications (bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids) used to treat COPD demonstrate similar trends for exacerbation prevention and lung function improvement in men and women, this is an understudied area and clinical trials frequently have a preponderance of males. A better understanding of gender-based predictors of efficacy of all therapeutic interventions is crucial for comprehensive patient care. There is an urgent need to recognize the increasing burden of COPD in women and to facilitate global improvements in disease prevention and management in this specific population. Many individuals with COPD follow a trajectory of both lung function decline and also multimorbidity. Unfavourable lung function trajectories throughout life have implications for later development of other chronic diseases. An enhanced understanding of the temporal associations underlying the development of coexisting diseases is a crucial first step in unravelling potential common disease pathways. Lessons can be learned from exploring disease trajectories of other NCD as well as multimorbidity development. Further research will be essential to explain how early life risk factors commonly influence trajectories of COPD and other diseases, how different diseases develop in relation to each other in a temporal way and how this ultimately leads to different multimorbidity patterns in COPD. This review integrates new knowledge and ideas pertaining to three broad themes (i) the overall burden of disease in COPD, (ii) an unappreciated high burden in women and (iii) the contrast of COPD trajectories and different multimorbidity patterns with trajectories of other NCD. The underlying pathology of COPD is largely irreversible, but many factors noted in the review are potentially amenable to intervention. Health and social care systems need to ensure that effective treatment is accessible to all people with the condition. Preventive strategies and treatments that alter the course of disease are crucial, particularly for patients with COPD as one of many problems.