title: Sex Difference in Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. Does it Matter? A Concise Review.
abstract: Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) primarily affects men; however, its epidemiology has been changing because more women have become smokers. Recently, investigators found that although women and men were exposed to the same amount of smoke fume, women tended to have more severe disease and higher mortality rate. They also complain of more dyspnoea and may experience more severe exacerbations than men. This led to the question of whether sex has an impact on COPD course and whether women have a higher susceptibility to smoke fumes than men. That may be explained by multiple complex factors highlighting the relationship between sex, epidemiology, method of diagnostics and the clinical course of the disease. In this review, sex differences in epidemiology, clinical presentation, exacerbation, co-morbidities and treatment are covered.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pulmonary Medicine , School of Medicine, Gazi University , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Nurdan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kokturk
authors.affiliation: b Clinic of Chest Diseases , Ankara Ataturk Training and Research Hospital , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kilic
authors.affiliation: c Department of Pulmonary Medicine , School of Medicine, Ufuk University , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baha
authors.affiliation: d Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine , Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine , Seoul , Korea.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: e Department of Pulmonology, Clinical Science Center , St George University School of Medicine , London , UK.
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D018450:Disease Progression; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: COPD; clinical presentation; exacerbation; female; gender; treatment