TY - JOUR T1 - Chronic diseases like asthma and COPD: do they truly exist? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 359 LP - 361 DO - 10.1183/13993003.01930-2015 VL - 47 IS - 2 AU - Peter J. Sterk Y1 - 2016/02/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/47/2/359.abstract N2 - We have all been taught what asthma is and currently, the worldwide Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) strategy defines the disease in great detail [1]. Similarly, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been delineated carefully by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), which provides concrete recommendations for its diagnosis based on today's standards [2]. These two efforts have probably done more for the benefit of patients with chronic airway diseases around the world than any top-level research programme in the field: chapeau! The solid recommendations by GINA and GOLD are based on knowledge accumulated since, let us say, the mid-20th century regarding the background, assessment and management of these established diseases. Hence, would there be any reason for shaking up asthma and COPD?Historical diagnoses of asthma and COPD should be replaced with bioclinical phenotyping http://ow.ly/VulR0 ER -