To the airway and beyond: Introduction to an AJRCCM special section on airway disease

This issue of the Journal contains a rich resource of contributions to many aspects of airway disease. This editorial will highlight several important overarching themes. Importantly, as stressed by the Lancet commission, we need to go beyond umbrella labels such as “asthma” and “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)” to identify the actual airway pathology and plan treatment accordingly. Furthermore, treatable traits extend beyond the airway and extrapulmonary comorbidities to the environment, another important theme in this issue.

Andrew Bush, Sanjay H Chotirmall, MeiLan K Han, Michael Harhay