Wake-up call by breathomics in sleep apnoea.

Respiratory diseases are amongst the most complex pathophysiological entities in medicine. There is no such thing as a one-item disease in our field, which brings the appeal of respiratory diseases for basic and clinical scientists. The most prevalent respiratory diseases are chronic, exhibiting multiple mechanistic pathways that can vary during the course of the disease. This has not only hampered pathogenetic research, but has also impeded adequate disease phenotyping [1]. Apparently, it takes more than a few clinical and serum markers to establish the true biomedical entity of complex diseases. The good news is that, as we speak, medicine is making a step-change in achieving exactly that [2].