Multimorbidity in a Patient with COPD: Hard to Overcome Challenges

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently suffer from multimorbidity, defined as the presence of 2 or more comorbidities in a patient, the most common of which are cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, lung cancer, diabetes, muscle weakness, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression. In patients with COPD, comorbidities can develop syndemically, that is, they can evolve simultaneously in response to common risk factors and through common pathogenetic mechanisms. The authors present the case of a patient with multimorbidity, with a history of a common risk factor (smoking) for some of the associated comorbidities and challenges occurred in his therapeutic approach.