|
Risk factors
Cigarette smoking is by far the most serious and common risk factor for COPD, but there are other risk factors that make it more likely that a person will develop the disease. These risk factors fall into two categories: host factors and environmental exposures.
Host factors:
- A history of frequent or severe childhood respiratory infection
- A personal or family history of asthma or COPD (so-called familial clustering)
- A personal history of airway hyperreactivity (a defining feature of asthma)
- A genetic predisposition to emphysema, most notably a hereditary deficiency of the blood protein alpha-1 antitrypsin, which, when combined with cigarette smoke, can result in precocious COPD, not infrequently in the third or fourth decade of life.
Environmental factors:
- Exposure to sidestream (passive) tobacco smoke
- Exposure to tobacco smoke in utero
- Exposure to chemicals and dust on the job, including vapors, irritants, and fumes.
- Exposure to indoor or outdoor air pollution. Indoor pollution is a very important risk factor in Third World countries, particularly for women.
|
