ALB and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Table 1 shows the characteristics of the 29 patients with COPD, 23 patients with IP, and 10 patients with CHF included in the study. There were no significant differences in characteristics among these three groups of patients. In our country, normal ranges of serum albumin level are 3.7–5.0 g/dL, and the average weight (standard deviation) for men aged 70 and over was 62.7 (9.3) kg for men and 51.3 (8.8) kg for women (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan, 2018).