Poverty cannot be inhaled and it is not a genetic condition. How can it be associated with chronic airflow obstruction?

Chronic airflow obstruction (CAO) does not mean chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but it is one of its defining characteristics [1]. According to the global strategy for diagnosis, management and prevention of obstructive lung diseases, COPD is usually caused by significant exposure to noxious particles or gases. The report highlights that airflow obstruction in COPD is the result of complex interactions between exposures (mainly smoking, biomass fuels and occupational dusts) and host factors, and postulates that COPD could be a relatively specific and separable disease in nosological terms.