COPD, Pulmonary Fibrosis and ILAs in Aging Smokers: The Paradox of Striking Different Responses to the Major Risk Factors

Aging and smoking are associated with the progressive development of three main pulmonary diseases: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs), and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). All three manifest mainly after the age of 60 years, but with different natural histories and prevalence: COPD prevalence increases with age to >40%, ILA prevalence is 8%, and IPF, a rare disease, is 0.0005–0.002%. While COPD and ILAs may be associated with gradual progression and mortality, the natural history of IPF remains obscure, with a worse prognosis and life expectancy of 2–5 years from diagnosis. Acute exacerbations are significant events in both COPD and IPF, with a much worse prognosis in IPF. This perspective discusses the paradox of the striking pathological and pathophysiologic responses on the background of the same main risk factors, aging and smoking, suggesting two distinct pathophysiologic processes for COPD and ILAs on one side and IPF on the other side. Pathologically, COPD is characterized by small airways fibrosis and remodeling, with the destruction of the lung parenchyma. By contrast, IPF almost exclusively affects the lung parenchyma and interstitium. ILAs are a heterogenous group of diseases, a minority of which present with the alveolar and interstitial abnormalities of interstitial lung disease