Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease, and throughout human history, it has been permanently opening numerous medical and legal questions, for which the answers are implied by the current social circumstances. In ancient times, insufficient knowledge of the etiopathogenesis of TB resulted in discrimination and isolation of patients. In the Middle Ages, kings used TB as a disease to secure their political power over the citizens, while TB culturally took a romanticized form during the 19th and 20th centuries, together with a great social phobia of contagion, disease, and dying on the other hand. Stereotypes were formed around all TB victims, while society tried to understand the nature of the disease and establish a civilizational relationship with it as a health problem having numerous social implications. Modern public health measures for the control of the TB pandemic were established after the discovery of the Koch bacillus in the 19th century. The invention and mass use of the BCG vaccine, the discovery of streptomycin and isoniazid, and the new era of TB treatment, with the consequent emergence of drug resistance, coepidemic with AIDS, neglect of public health facilities and the current COVID-19 pandemics threaten many legal rights of the infected and the sick and pose new challenges in its global elimination. Numerous attempts by society over the centuries to devise preventive and therapeutic measures for TB, through different levels of social obligations and activities, have had and continue to have a profound impact on the human race, shaping its further response to the victims of this deadly disease.

The association of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular disease was observed during the study of the systemic effects of this disease. Among these patients, the incidence as well as the mortality from cardiovascular disease are significantly higher, while the reduction of cardiovascular risk is an important target for the reduction of the overall mortality from COPD.The complex pathophysiological mechanisms of the interaction of the respiratory and cardiovascular system during COPD exacerbation have not yet been sufficiently studied, but their clinical manifestations are an increasing challenge within modern diagnostics and therapy. Studies have shown that intensification of systemic inflammatory response in acute exacerbation of COPD results in endothelial dysfunction, activation of atherosclerotic plaques, increased susceptibility to rupture and thrombus formation, which is indirect but very significant cause of acute cardiovascular events.Acute exacerbations of COPD can be the triggers of an acute cardiovascular event; however, they can be triggered by previous cardiovascular events as well. Despite an improved diagnostic-therapeutic procedure, this two-way association often remains unrecognized. The effect of COPD treatment on the coexisting vulnerability of the cardiovascular system is still not fully understood.Despite the reliable evidence confirming the link between COPD and cardiovascular disease, modern therapeutic options for targeted treatment of these diseases are still in the testing phase, with no more relevant randomized clinical trials in this field. The first results of the SUMMIT study promise a more appropriate treatment of these patients.

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