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Retired paralegal Patti Todd was devastated when she found out she had COPD a few years after her 40th birthday. He lived for years with asthma, but hearing that he had COPD was a huge blow. He feared his diagnosis would affect his active lifestyle. “But the doctor explained, the fewer activities you have, the less you will want to do them,” she said. “Try to push yourself as hard as possible. Don’t just do things you’re comfortable with.” Consequently, Todd bought a step tracker and began walking 10,000 steps a day and staying active. His activity has reduced over time, but he still tries to do as much as possible.
COPD, that is, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is the sixth most important cause of deaths in the US and the fourth world level mainly affecting people in rural areas. It is not just one disease, but a group of them. The most common forms of COPD are chronic emphysema and bronchitis. Asthma, which Todd had, can have the same symptoms and cause COPD.
Historically, people have thought that lung diseases mainly affect men, but that is wrong. Lung diseases, like COPD, It affects women a lot. The mortality rate of men who have COPD has remained stable since the mid-eighties, but it has tripled for women and they die more than men.
Smoking makes women more vulnerable to COPD
Smoking, a major risk factor for COPD, is a bigger problem for women. “For every cigarette smoked, women tend to have more severe lung disease at a younger age,” he explained. Dawn DeMeo, MD, MPHa pulmonary critical care specialist and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Before the 1960s, women’s smoking was a socially controversial issue.” To boost tobacco consumption, cigarette companies appealed to beauty, physical fitness and sharing your opinion as a woman. This made millions of women adopt this habit. And now, many of those women are living with COPD multiple times.
Todd quit smoking before his diagnosis. “I smoked since I was about 15 and quit when I was 40, before I was diagnosed with COPD. It was about six years later when I was diagnosed and it really shocked me.” Todd thought that by quitting smoking, his lung injuries would not progress. “But it kept getting worse.”
However, smoking is not the only risk factor for COPD for women. almost 3 out of every 10 women with COPD have never smoked, compared to 1 in 10 men. “Some of the risk factors for women are exposure to biomass fuels for cooking, other occupational exposures and genetic family history,” DeMeo said. Although these biofuels may not be used in the US, some women who immigrated to North America may have been exposed to them since childhood, when their lungs were still forming.
Women are more vulnerable to airway injuries because they tend to be smaller, and the hormonal changes that come with menopause may also play a role. Some studies indicate that a early menopause can increase a woman’s risk of developing COPD, as can other reproductive factors, such as your age when you had your first period and the number of pregnancies you have had.
Different symptoms of COPD and other disorders
Many medical conditions, such as heart disorders, cause various symptoms in women and this is also true of COPD. “Symptomatically, women may describe more coughing and phlegm, potentially with greater difficulty breathing,” DeMeo said. Women’s symptoms are more severe and they have more siblings. “But I think one of the potentially important issues has to do with the age at which they occur, their symptoms, and how long those symptoms have gone untreated and undiagnosed.” Women experience symptoms earlier and longer before receiving a diagnosis.
According to research, women who have COPD are also more likely to have depression depression, anxiety and osteoporosisthe reduction of bone mass. Frailty is also something that needs to be considered, DeMeo said. “That’s an area of ongoing research, but also an opportunity for interventions. This is when [es importante] Make sure the woman you know with COPD has access to other providers, which will be helpful for her nutrition, to prevent weight loss and gain depending on her responses to steroids, and to address depression and anxiety.”
Social determinants of health also play an important role in COPD
Where women live and work, their education levels and household income may also affect their COPD risk. Research indicates that COPD rates are higher for people of rural areas and minors for people who finished high school and have higher incomes at home. Additionally, people with COPD in lower income groups they get worse faster compared to people who have higher incomes. DeMeo indicates that there are several reasons why this occurs. “Do they live in a food desert? What kind of access to medical care and information do they have? What about access to green spaces in the neighborhood? All of this is important for overall health, but it’s absolutely important for lung health . and problems such as poverty disproportionately affect women.”
COPD is not a death sentence
DeMeo and Todd stressed that having COPD doesn’t mean you have a death sentence.
“We can treat symptoms, manage quality of life and do interventions,” DeMeo said. “When we treat people with COPD with compassion and empathy, like any other disease, then I think people understand that having a well-rounded life with COPD is possible. You have to be kind to yourself, take advantage of pulmonary rehabilitation, all the preventive therapies, potentially handle [otras] conditions and try to have a comprehensive life.
Todd continues to enjoy life, despite the restrictions caused by COPD. He makes sure to take his medications and recently started using oxygen at night. “They did a sleep test and found that my oxygen levels dropped during the night,” he said. “But while having COPD is a horrible thing, it’s not a death sentence if you’re proactive about getting enough exercise. I still have a very good life. I travel. I walk. I do a lot of things.”
This educational resource was prepared with the support of GSK, Regeneron and Sanofi.
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