Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD is a serious lung disease that over time, makes breathing difficult. Physicians prefer to use the term COPD because the condition involves two lung diseases – chronic bronchitis and emphysema, which frequently co-exist. Both are characterised by obstruction to airflow which interferes with normal breathing. This condition however does not include asthma.
The common symptoms are ; cough, wheezing ,shortness of breath and chest tightness. It is often seen by many as a man’s disease but in reality it is fast becoming an equal- opportunity condition. More and more women these days are being diagnosed with this chronic lung disease than they were some decades ago.
Research has found that smoking is the biggest risk factor for COPD but because more men smoke more than women, more men had COPD. These days, the tables have turned because women now smoke almost as much as men do.
While COPD might affect women differently from men, research has revealed that women’s lungs are more susceptible to cigarette smoke. The reason may not be far from the fact that women’s lungs are smaller and therefore can’t tolerate as much smoke as a man’s. Even when equal amount of cigarette is consumed by men and women, they have more lung damage.
Women with COPD are also said to affect women more because they tend to have more medical problems. For instance, medical experts discovered that women are more likely than men to have osteoporosis. Having COPD and osteoporosis at the same time worsens symptoms of both conditions.
Another reason COPD affects women badly is because sometimes it is wrongly diagnosed. One study showed that when women and women had the same symptoms, men were often more diagnosed correctly with COPD, while women are incorrectly diagnosed with asthma .This is because doctors still see the condition as a man’s? disease, hence why women are badly affected.
Weight problem is another reason why women experience worse COPD symptoms. More women have weight problem than men. Being overweight worsen s this condition because the extra pounds forces the body to work harder and keep the lungs from expanding fully.
Ways to manage COPD
• Know the risk factors. If you’re older than 35 and you’ve ever smoked, you may be at risk. You may also be at risk if you have been exposed to large amounts of certain fumes or pollution.
• Know the symptoms. Tell your doctor if you’re short of breath, cough up mucus, or feel less able to be active.
• Stop smoking. It’s not easy to quit, but smoking is the number one risk factor for COPD. And if you have COPD, smoking makes your symptoms worse. Get help quitting if you need it.
• If you have COPD, take all your medications as prescribed and be sure to participate in a pulmonary rehabilitation program.
• Get regular pneumonia and flu vaccinations to help keep your lungs healthy.
COPD Fact Sheet
• It kills more women than breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes.
• This is the eight consecutive year in which women have exceeded men in the number of deaths attributable to COPD. In 2007, almost 64,000 females died compared to almost 60,000 males.
• Smoking is the primary risk factor for COPD. Approximately 85 to 90 percent of COPD deaths are caused by smoking.
• Female smokers are nearly 13 times as likely to die from COPD as women who have never smoked.
• Male smokers are nearly 12 times as likely to die from COPD as men who have never smoked.
• Other risk factors of COPD include exposure to air pollution, second-hand smoke and occupational dusts and chemicals, heredity, a history of childhood respiratory infections and socioeconomic status.
• Particulate matter from cigarette smoke and air pollution, including smoke from poorly ventilated wood stoves and the burning of biomass, are related to lung damage.
• Occupational exposure to certain industrial pollutants also increases the risk for COPD. One study found that the fraction of COPD attributed to work was estimated as 19.2% overall and 31.1% among never smokers.
• An estimated 672,000 hospital discharges were reported in 2006; a discharge rate of 22.5 per 100,000 population.COPD is an important cause of hospitalization in our aged population.
• Approximately 64% of discharges were in the 65 years and older population in 2006
• A Lung Association survey revealed that half of all COPD patients (51%) say their condition limits their ability to work. It also limits them in normal physical exertion (70%), household chores (56%), social activities (53%), sleeping (50%) and family activities (46%)
Source: www.lung.org