Introduction to 100 years of respiratory medicine

Abstract

Welcome to the first in a series of historical reviews of Respiratory Diseases to celebrate the 100th year volume of Respiratory Medicine. The journal started under the name British Journal of Tuberculosis from 1907 to 1942. The first issues were more focussed on practical care issues sharing experiences from treating tuberculosis in centres all over the world. In the absence of effective chemotherapy, one relied on practical care including nutrition and clean air in sanatoria built mostly in the mountains. Tuberculosis was a major challenge both for the medical profession but also for society as a whole. By celebrating our 100th year volume of Respiratory Medicine, it was thus natural to start with an editorial by Thomas M. Daniel, describing the History of Tuberculosis, starting with the view presented in the first volumes of our journal. In a later issue, we will have a follow-up on the same theme describing the Chemotherapy and Diagnosis of Tuberculosis, written by Cesare Saltini. Also in this issue looking at the history of Respiratory Medicine, Owen Dempsey has completed a review on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Past, Present and Future. During the 100 years that followed after the first issue, a tremendous development in chest medicine occurred and other diseases than tuberculosis came into focus. Thus, in 1947, the name of the journal was changed to British Journal of Tuberculosis and Diseases of the chest. By this time, Tuberculosis was pulled down further and the journal once again changed its name in 1959, now to British Journal of Diseases of the Chest. Since then, the journal has grown into a global respiratory journal being distributed to a large number of countries all over the world. Consequently, in 1989, the journal changed its name to Respiratory Medicine. Thus, the subsequent reviews, looking back to the journal's historical archive, will deal with old and modern challenges as COPD, Asthma, Pulmonary Hypertension, ILD, Respiratory Infection and Lung Oncology. My thanks to all authors who contributed: Mario Cazzola, Nic Hanania, Claudio Donner (COPD); Zuzana Diamant, Stephen Peters, Christian Virchow (Asthma); Anton Vonk Noordegraaf (Pulmonary Hypertension); Owen Dempsay (ILD); Francesco Blasi (Respiratory Infection) and Michael Pirozynski (Lung Oncology). We hope that our readers will appreciate these reviews, which looking back to an important history whilst pointing into the future, balancing between established knowledge and future research. The archive of all issues back to volume 1 issue 1 is now available online at www.sciencedirect.com.