Respiratory Diseases and Coronary Artery Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide.They accounted for 31% of total global deaths in 2012 and 42% of them were due to coronary vascular diseases [1].Respiratory diseases like pneumonia, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are also leading causes of mortality and morbidity.COPD is the likely third most common cause of death by 2030.Tissue oxygenation in human body is carried by coordinated action of cardiovascular system and respiratory system.Pulmonary diseases are characterized by hypoxia which not only increases the burden on the heart to compensate but also make it vulnerable target to undergo decompensating when baseline function is suboptimal.Anatomical, physiological closeness of both these structures makes them to share several diseases and clinical manifestations.Distribution of sympathetic and cholinergic receptors on both systems Presence of beta 2 receptors in alveoli, beta1 receptors in airway smooth muscle, cardiac muscles, cholinergic M1, 2,3, receptors on bronchial smooth muscle, mucous glands, epithelium lead to invariable desired and undesired effects due to medications.Palpitations, bronchospasm and precipitation of coronary events are expected in those patients using beta blockers or agonists.Common respiratory diseases include upper and lower respiratory infections including influenza illness, pneumonia, obstructive airway diseases including bronchial asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), fibrosing conditions like idiopathic