Women are four times more likely to develop a debilitating and potentially
lethal lung disorder known as pulmonary hypertension, a new study shows.
Pulmonary hypertension is caused by high blood pressure in the arteries that
supply the lungs with blood. People who suffer from the condition can become
tired, dizzy and short of breath, because the arteries feeding the lungs
constrict and reduce the supply of oxygenated blood being circulating throughout
the body.
The new study was led by Dr. Adaani E. Frost from the Baylor College of Medicine
in Houston. He and his colleagues compared data from the REVEAL registry, which
includes more than 2,300 patients, against data from the U.S. National
Institutes of Health, a French registry and another large U.S. registry from one
medical center.
They found that, among people in the United States, pulmonary hypertension
affects four times more women than men. It is also more likely to strike those
aged 48 and older.
And although there is more awareness among doctors of pulmonary hypertension,
the time frame from when symptoms first develop to diagnosis has actually
increased by 10 months, Frost's team found.
"The huge REVEAL database clearly demonstrates changes in the pulmonary
hypertension demographic characteristics since the original NIH registry,
indicating older presentation and striking female preponderance. Diagnosis is
not occurring earlier, in spite of increased awareness of the disease," the
researchers conclude. "Efforts must be made to decrease delays between onset of
symptoms and diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension."
The research was to be presented Wednesday at the American College of Chest
Physicians annual meeting, in Philadelphia.
SOURCE: Oct. 29, 2008, presentation, American College of Chest Physicians
annual meeting, Philadelphia
