title: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Introduction.
abstract: A series of review articles on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease beginning in this issue of Thorax will consider many of the basic science and clinical aspects and provide the clinical scientist and practising physician with an up to date understanding of this common and distressing lung disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, UK. dal16@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Lomas
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects