Via practica 4/2017

Cardiovascular comorbidities of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CPOD) is a preventable and treatable disease. A high proportion of global morbidity and mortality is attributed to CPOD. It is a heterogeneous condition with a dominant focus on the lungs but comorbidities are often present. Cardiovascular diseases are among the most frequent and most serious comorbidities. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a complex analysis of the cardiovascular comorbidities of patients with COPD. COPD in itself is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases independent of smoking. It is generally accepted that with decreased lung function the risk of cardiovascular mortality increases. The most frequent cardiovascular diseases among the COPD patients are heart failure and ischemic heart disease. Heart failure often presents in a similar manner to COPD and thus can present significant difficulties in diagnosis. Well described risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, other than smoking, are old age and decreased physical activity. Risk factors are further exacerbated by hypoxaemia which occurs in patients with advanced COPD. Published materials show, that starting treatment of COPD decreases the advance of cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords: COPD, cardiovascular diseases, beta-blockers