Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is chronic disease that affects mostly the lungs but there is growing evidence that it is also a systemic condition associated with a number of accompanying diseases known as comorbidities. Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress are the highlight pathogenic processes that interrelate COPD and comorbidities with additional disease specific risk factors and mechanisms. Through complex interactions COPD increases the risk for certain comorbidities and they in turn have negative impact on health status and contribute to mortality in COPD patients. Treatment of comorbidities in terms of coexistence with COPD may require more specific personalized therapeutic approach. Here we review the pathogenic mechanisms which define COPD as a systemic disease; the most common comorbidities of COPD: cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, cachexia, osteoporosis, depression/anxiety and obstructive sleep apnea; the pathways which connect these diseases with COPD and the latest treatment approaches.