Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, resulting in emphysema or chronic bronchitis is the leading cause of the third death throughout the world but the burden of the disease is not divided the same between sex. Traditionally, men are more likely to be diagnosed but over the past two decades women have been chasing behind. In some cases, they reached two -thirds of patients diagnosed. Scientists and researchers point to an increase in urbanization and increase the level of smoking among women as a potential cause, but there may be another reason women struggle with lung disease: their airways are smaller. The new research, published in the journal Radiology on August 2, found that women have a smaller airways that are disproportionate than men, even when calculating their smaller sizes as a whole.

“The prevalence of COPD in women is getting closer to men, and airway disease can underlie some high number of COPD in women we see,” said the main author of the study, Surya P. Bhatt, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Division Lung medicine, allergies, and critical care at Alabama University in Birmingham and the main writer in this study. “When the airways narrow because of smoking, the impact on symptoms and survival is greater in women than men.”

In this study, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 10,000 participants registered in COPD genetic epidemiology (COPDGENE), prospective multi -monitoring Multicenter Cohort studies about smokers today, former and never aged between 45 and 80 years. The researchers studied CT scan to explore whether there are sex -based differences in airway remodeling, or narrowing of the airways due to disease. They also want to see if there is an impact of airway renovation on the results reported by patients including survival.

All participants underwent tests to assess the function of the lungs and answer the questionnaire that determined the quality of breathing life. To determine the size of the lungs, the CT scan is analyzed the thickness of the airway wall, the total area of ​​the airway and the volume and also the diameter of the airway lumen. These results are adjusted to age, height, race, body mass index, smoking years, current smoking status and total lung capacity.

What they find is that women have smaller airways, even after calculating high and total lung capacity in people who never smoke or those who smoke less than 100 cigarettes for the rest of their lives. In today’s smokers and ex, men have a greater thickness of the airway wall but the larger airway lumens.

“Differences in airway dimensions even after being adjusted to the height and lungs, and the impact is greater than changes in the size of the airway on clinical results in women, extraordinary because women seem to have lower reserves on the development of airway diseases and COPD, “Said Bhatt.