Browse the corpus
Walk the evidence base by book and chapter — the raw source passages that ground Ask, Differential, and the rest.
1 passage
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by persistent respiratory symptoms and progressive airflow obstruction. Tobacco smoking is the leading cause but not the only one. A postbronchodilator FEV1-FVC ratio less than 0.70 is required for a diagnosis of COPD. Inhaler therapy is the backbone of treatment and should be complemented by a multifaceted management strategy that includes counseling and pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation, pulmonary rehabilitation, treatment of comorbidities, administration of influenza and pneumococcal immunizations, and prescription of long-term oxygen therapy in hypoxemic patients.