Effects of Aging and Smoking Duration on Cigarette Smoke-Induced COPD Severity

BACKGROUND: Aging can serve as an underlying mechanism of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Also, smoking, which is the most common cause of COPD, is responsible for the systemic manifestations of the disease, independently from the lung function alterations. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of aging on the occurrence of cigarette smoking induced COPD. METHODS: For this analysis, we evaluated smoking status by a lifestyle intervention program and measured the occurrence of COPD by the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2005 to 2015. RESULTS: Aging and smoking were significantly effected on the lung function of COPD patients. Especially, the smoking duration is exaggerated in the presence of old age for older COPD patients. CONCLUSION: The result showed that COPD patients exhibit aging and smoking duration related severity. The prevalence of COPD kept increasing internationally. Knowing the risk factor of COPD quantitatively and finding out the interaction among risk factors could be valuable predictors for preventing COPD.