COPD in women: susceptibility or vulnerability? (original) (raw)

Women are both more susceptible and more vulnerable than men when it comes to COPD http://ow.ly/UhMQ3 Approximately 20% of the smoking population worldwide are women [6]. This estimate has modified overall vital statistics by increasing the COPD prevalence for women and increasing the frequency of deaths due to COPD [12, 13]. A recent analysis of mortality across three time-periods (1959-1965, 1982-1988 and 2000-2010) showed that the risk of death from cigarette smoking has continually increased among women [14], and the relative risk of death from COPD is now nearly identical for men and women (relative risk of 25 and 27.8 for women and men, respectively) [15].