Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) is one of the most prevalent health conditions,
and a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the globe. Once thought of primarily
as a disease of men, COPD is now known to be increasingly prevalent among women. Although
increasing tobacco consumption among women during the past several decades might explain
some of this increase, the relationship may be more complex, including factors such
as differential susceptibility to tobacco, anatomic and hormonal differences, behavioral
differences, and differences in response to available therapeutic modalities. Moreover,
women with COPD may present differently, may have a different pattern of comorbidities,
and may have a better survival after acute exacerbations. Care providers continue
to have a gender bias that may affect both diagnosis and treatment. Future work should
focus on factors that lead to gender differences in COPD as well as gender-specific
treatment strategies.
Abbreviations:
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 second), IL (interleukin), NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), LTOT (long-term home oxygen therapy), VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 17, 2013
Accepted:
April 24,
2013
Received in revised form:
April 23,
2013
Received:
February 22,
2013
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest: All authors have read the journal’s policy on conflicts of interest. S. Aryal and E. Diaz-Guzman have no conflicts of interest to disclose. D. M. Mannino has the following disclosures: He has served on advisory boards for Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Sepracor, Astra-Zeneca, Novartis, and Ortho Biotech; and has received research grants from Astra-Zeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Pfizer.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
