Preface Human tissue, including airway and lung tissue, changes with age. Lung function deterioration starts in early adulthood and continues to decline throughout life. The mechanical properties of the lungs change, leading to decreased vital capacity, increased end-expiratory volume and changes in blood gases. The increase knowledge of age- related lung alterations may lead to changes in assessment and classification of pulmonary diseases. It is now well known that the forced expiratory volume in one second/vital capacity ratio declines with age implying a risk for the over estimation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease prevalence in elderly people. There are data supporting the view that ageing is accompanied by increased systemic inflammatory activity due to the reduced capability of the inflammatory system to react to environmental factors, so called inflamm-ageing. The panorama of lung diseases is different in older and younger people and there are a number of immunological conditions and diseases induced by long-term exposure, which are substantially more prevalent in older, in comparison with younger, persons. As the social standard is improving in the world the population is becoming aged. From a global perspective less than 10% of the population is aged over 65 yrs, but in some westernised countries close to one in five inhabitants are aged over 65 yrs. The change in age profile of the population poses specific medical issues that are highly relevant in respiratory medicine. It is gratifying that the interest for lung diseases in the elderly has been in greater demand during recent years and it is a pleasure to present this European Respiratory Monograph entirely focused on respiratory diseases in the elderly. It is a comprehensive, update monograph covering the majority of aspects concerning the lungs in an aging population, and written by the foremost experts within this field. It is certainly a book that will fill a great need and that will find its way to a wide audience of readers. Editor in Chief, K. Larsson Eur Respir Mon, 2009, 43, viii. Printed in UK -all rights reserved. Copyright ERS Journals Ltd 2009 European Respiratory Monograph ISSN 1025-448x. viii
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