Detection of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary care.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are major health problems, the number of patients with these diseases is still rising and only 25-50% of these patients are known to their doctors. Lung function gradually decreases in COPD and asthmatic patients during their lives. Due to adaptation of the patients or due to the doctor being unaware of the symptoms, COPD is often diagnosed late in its course and when finally diagnosed, lung function is often relatively poor. Underdiagnosis and consequently undertreatment might play an important role in the increase in morbidity and mortality as a result of COPD and asthma. Early detection and treatment might improve the long-term prognosis of these patients and this secondary prevention may also prevent irreversible loss of function. The identification of patients is useless if no effective preventive measures are available. In asthma, inhaled corticosteroids have been shown to have distinct effects on the progression of the disease. However, in COPD inhaled corticosteroids have only been shown to have some effects and the long-term effects on lung function have been disappointing. At present, the most effective treatment available for COPD is the cessation of smoking. It appears that a smoker at risk of developing COPD is more motivated to stop smoking than someone who is not at risk and this may help a physician in encouraging an attempt to quit. General practitioners appear to be already using this knowledge, as they seem more likely to advise smokers to quit smoking if they perceive their problems to be smoking related.