Chest
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COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and is a serious respiratory illness characterized by years of progressively debilitating breathlessness, high prevalence of associated depression and anxiety, frequent hospitalizations, and diminished well-being. Despite the potential to confer significant quality-of-life benefits for patients and their care partners and to improve end-of-life (EOL) care, specialist palliative care is rarely implemented in COPD, and when initiated, it often occurs only at the very EOL. ⋯ This review solidifies that palliative care is much more than hospice and EOL care and demonstrates that early palliative care is appropriate at any point during the COPD trajectory. We emphasize that palliative care should be integrated long before the EOL to provide comprehensive support for patients and their care partners and to prepare them better for the EOL.
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Meta Analysis
Genetic associations and architecture of asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap.
Some people have characteristics of both asthma and COPD (asthma-COPD overlap), and evidence suggests they experience worse outcomes than those with either condition alone. ⋯ We identified eight signals for asthma-COPD overlap, which may represent loci that predispose to type 2 inflammation, and serious long-term consequences of asthma.