The need to change the method for defining mild airway obstruction

The need to change the method for defining mild airway obstruction Dear colleagues, members of GOLD committee, This letter arises from discussions and correspondence between colleagues involved in respiratory research or the diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases, as well as from a review of the literature on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).As discussed below, it is written in the hope that we can persuade members of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) committee to vote to change the method by which mild airway obstruction is defined by the GOLD guidelines.We very much welcome the continued efforts of the GOLD group to stimulate interest and awareness of the high prevalence of COPD, its morbidity, effects on quality of life and on mortality.There is no doubt that COPD is a major public health problem of which the public, health workers and health authorities were insufficiently aware.It is therefore an important achievement that the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Respiratory Society (ERS), the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), the Asociacio ´n Latinoamericana de To ´rax (ALAT), and the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) and many distinguished individuals have joined forces to increase awareness about the burden of disease, by publishing reports and guidelines for diagnostic procedures and interventions which have been adopted by numerous international and national organisations.