The doctor spoke about the reasons why asthma becomes a chronic disease

The main reason for the transition of asthma into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is smoking. This was told on Thursday, December 26, by Lidia Nikitina, an employee of the National Medical Research Center on the profile "pulmonology" of the First Sechenov Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov.

"Asthma can really change into COPD, and every expert has observed such episodes in his practice. In my opinion, COPD develops in about 10% of patients with asthma. If asthma is severe, uncontrolled, triggers are present, then this percentage is slightly higher, but clearly not 60%," - quotes her words "Gazeta.Ru".

It is specified that one of the triggers is polluted air containing PM2.5 and PM10, which causes inflammation in the respiratory tract, as alveolar macrophages cannot neutralize them.

Nikitina noted that the transition of asthma to COPD occurs most often in asthmatic smokers. The specialist emphasized the importance of not smoking cigarettes and vapes, noting that vapes, although less studied, affect the small airways, which can lead to severe consequences.

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Earlier, on November 27, candidate of medical sciences Olga Ulankina, a medical expert of the laboratory "Hemotest", told "Izvestia" that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease develops in every fifth smoker. Everyone can get COPD regardless of age. It is believed that the risk of contracting the disease is three to four times higher in those who smoke cigarettes themselves or have to constantly inhale tobacco smoke.