More men than women die of COPD, study hints
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Results of a study conducted in the Asia-Pacific region suggest that men with COPD are more likely to die or be hospitalized than women with COPD.
COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. COPD can cause coughing that produces large amounts of mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and other symptoms.
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD, but it is also associated with long-term exposure to other lung irritants, such as air pollution and chemical fumes.
“The global rise of COPD is particularly dramatic in Asia-Pacific where two recognized risk factors for COPD - tobacco smoke and indoor air pollution - are highly prevalent and are significant contributors to death and disease burden,” Dr. Wan C. Tan, from St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada, said in a statement.
To better understand the epidemiology of COPD in this region, Tan and colleagues analyzed data obtained from national health statistics agencies for 1991 to 2004.
They found that, in 2003, COPD death rates for men per 10,000 people ranged from 6.4 to 9.2. By contrast, for women, the rates were just 2.1 to 3.5 per 10,000 people.
COPD-related illness was also higher in men, with rates of 32.6 to 334.7 per 10,000 people, compared with rates of 21.2 to 129 per 10,000 for women.
“The growing burden of COPD in the Asia-Pacific region,” Tan concluded, “supports the need for more intensive research and analysis to raise awareness of the disease and its causes. It is also important to reinforce the importance of persistent comprehensive anti-smoking strategies in individuals.”
SOURCE: Respirology, January 2009.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Related Posts:
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Between 2000 and 2005, the number of annual deaths in the United States due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rose by 8 percent, an increase driven primarily by climbing mortality rates among women with the disease, according to a report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Data were related
Full Post: COPD deaths increase among women
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Death rates soon after anti-obesity or “bariatric” surgery in Sweden are low, statistics show. “Most published series are from high-volume expert centers,” according to lead investigator Dr. Richard Marsk from Danderyd Hospital, Stockholm. “We have shown that bariatric surgery can be performed with low mortality on a national level.” Marsk and colleagues
Full Post: Low death rate after obesity surgery in Sweden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEIJING (Reuters) - Women must be more involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, a disease increasingly being spread through sex, and men must also be encouraged to respect women more, a senior U.N. official said Friday. Nafis Sadik, U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, told a poverty alleviation conference in Beijing that lack
Full Post: Women need empowerment in fight against AIDS: U.N.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Stomach acid reflux or heartburn may be a particular problem for people with breathing problems such as emphysema or bronchitis, known generally as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, researchers report. However, the reverse doesn’t seem to be the case, according to a study investigating the relationship between the two conditions. For
Full Post: COPD may trigger acid reflux problems
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients with heart rhythm disturbances who have an implantable heart defibrillator are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, a Swedish study indicates. In patients with these devices, known as implantable cardioverter defibrillators, or ICDs, exposure to air pollution may rapidly (within 2 hours) prompt ventricular arrhythmia — a potentially life-threatening condition in
Full Post: Air pollution may prompt abnormal heart rhythm