Certain Lung Conditions Are More Common in Women—Here's Why

Lung conditions, like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are more common in women than men.

Stephanie Harris has both asthma and COPD.

“I started smoking around the age of 14 or 15, and I completely stopped maybe three and a half, four years ago,” Harris said.

Living with the lung conditions slowed Harris down, she said.

“The shortness of breath, the tightness, the wheezing, that discomfort, the pressure,” Harris said. “Not being able to breathe was the worst because you would go around breathing with no problems. Then, all of a sudden, you can't breathe, and you don’t know why.”

According to Albert J. Polito, M.D., chair of Mercy’s department of medicine, chief of Mercy’s division of pulmonary medicine, and medical director for The Lung Center at Mercy, it is important to pay attention to your cough.

“We’ll oftentimes find that a persistent cough is the only symptom, [but] certainly shortness of breath, chest tightness—those sorts of things are other things to be aware of,” Dr. Polito said. “But I always remind people that a persistent cough can be asthma, and we call it cough variant asthma.”

When it comes to COPD, there are a few thoughts on why they see more women than men with the lung issue.

“The concern is that it tends to occur [in women] at younger ages with less overall smoke exposure [than men],” Dr. Polito said. “Is it because of hormonal effects? Is it because women's lungs are just slightly smaller than men's when other things are equal? Probably those things have to do with it, but the worry is, ‘Will it be misdiagnosed?’ And people won’t recognize that this is what they have.”

Harris is on several treatment plans, including inhalers, steroids and a nebulizer. However, she only has one real focus.

“Honestly, able to breathe. That’s my goal,” she said. “To be able to breathe comfortably without the stress, without the flare-ups.”

View Mercy’s Dr. Albert J. Polito’s interview regarding women and asthma and COPD.