The Global Initiative for COPD (GOLD guidelines) were updated in 2008. These guidelines include information on risk factors, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment in different phases of disease progression: http://www.goldcopd.com

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) Web site is a valuable resource for COPD as well as asthma: http://www.thoracic.org

CHEST is a scientific and clinical journal for specialists in pulmonology, critical care, sleep medicine, thoracic surgery, cardiorespiratory interactions, and related disciplines: http://www.chestjournal.org

More general disease information can be found at the NIH Web site, which may also be a useful resource for patient education: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/