Fig. 1—
A postulated mechanism by which deficiency in some genes may contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease susceptibility, and harmful environmental factors such as smoke exposure exacerbate the pathogenic process. Wild-type lungs growing in room air (–––––) achieve the greatest functional capacity and thus remain relatively healthy in spite of age related degradation 1. Smoking exacerbates degradation of lung function, even in healthy individuals (– – –). Genetic alteration, as discussed in this editorial, decreases the potential to develop maximal lung capacity compared with wild type (··········). Smoking exacerbates loss of lung capacity faster, especially in a lung already compromised by genetic mutation (- - -). Also, some steroid-resistant asthmatics fail to develop normal lung functional capacity 10.