Chronic clinical conditions have traditionally been regarded as individual disease categories within individual patients, although there is often considerable overlap across clinical systems. However, for those managing these patients the presence of various co-morbidities is all-too apparent. It may be time to consider a new approach to management of these patients.
Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is nearly double the rate in the general population without COPD. And for those with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and COPD, heart failure is the most common cause of hospitalisation.
