MedWire News: Women may be more susceptible than men to smoking-related lung damage, results from a US study suggest.
Writing in the journal Thorax, Dawn DeMeo (Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts) and team explain: “Several studies have indicated an increased female susceptibility to smoking-related decline in lung function, whereas other studies have suggested an opposite gender effect.
“Whether or not there exists a differential susceptibility by gender remains controversial, and little is known about the mechanisms and implications of a possible gender difference in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).”
To investigate further, the team studied data on 954 patients with COPD, of whom 38.9% were women. The team also studied two subgroups consisting of 316 individuals aged less than 60 years (early-onset group) and 241 with less than 20 pack-years of smoking (low exposure group).
Analysis of the total study group revealed no significant gender differences with respect to lung function and COPD severity. However, women were, on average, younger and smoked less than men.
In the subgroup analysis, however, the researchers found that in the low exposure group, women had poorer mean lung function than men, at an FEV1 of 48.7% versus 55.8% of the predicted value.
Women in the low exposure group also had more severe COPD, with 41.7% having GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) stage 3 and 4 disease compared with 31.1% of men in this group.
After accounting for pack-years, a history of asthma, and educational level, the researchers found that women had a 5.7% lower predicted FEV1 compared with men in the low exposure group, with a similar trend in the early-onset group.
However, the researchers note that number of pack-years was not significantly associated with FEV1 in women with COPD.
DeMeo and team conclude: “We found that female gender was associated with lung function reduction in subgroups of subjects with COPD with early onset of disease or low smoking exposure.
“Our findings may suggest a gender difference in susceptibility to the lung-damaging effects of cigarette smoking.”
However, they add that the findings are not conclusive and “should be interpreted with caution.”
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