respiratory diseases are one
of the leading causes of
death worldwide. At the
time of writing chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) was
reported to be the overall fourth
most common cause of mortality
globally, and predicted to be the third
most common by 2020 (Gruffydd-
Jones and Loveridge, 2011; Murphie,
2014, Simon and Jadwiga, 2014;).
The National Institute for Health
and Care Excellence (NICE, 2010)
estimated that over three million
people in the UK have been
diagnosed with COPD.