The Guest Editors V. Bellia V. Bellia is Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Palermo School of Medicine, Palermo, Italy. He is director of the Department of Medicine, Pulmonology, Physiology and Human Nutrition (DIMPEFINU) at Palermo University. He is currently serving as President of the Italian Society of Geriatric Respiratory Medicine (SIMREG). His research activities have included functional and clinical aspects of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with emphasis on peculiar aspects of such diseases in the elderly. R. Antonelli Incalzi is Professor of Geriatrics at the Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy and Scientific Director of the S. Raffaele-Cittadella della Carita `Foundation, Taranto, Italy. His main fields of research are respiratory diseases in the elderly, pharmacosurveillance and comprehensive geriatric assessment. As a member and cofounder of SIMREG, he is especially interested in programmes of application of multidimensional assessment to chronic respiratory diseases. R. Antonelli Incalzi