Cigarettes kill even more women

[larrynz]

au.news.yahoo.com//070214/2/12ey8.html
Sunday April 15, 12:01 PM
Cigarettes kill even more women: study
More women than ever are dying from smoking-related diseases, according to a new report which calls for more targeted anti-cigarette campaigns.

A national review has found that hospital admissions and deaths from asthma have fallen over the past decade, but rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rose among women.

The smoking-related breathing condition had become more commonplace among women and was also claiming an increasing number of female lives, according to the analysis reported in the Medical Journal of Australia.

It killed about 1,900 women in 1993, rising to 2,300 in 2003, compared to a drop from 4,000 to 3,200 among men.

The Adelaide-based researchers said the figures were in line with international trends which seem to suggest that women are more susceptible to the disease, characterised by coughing, wheezing and breathlessness.

COPD is reported to be the fourth most important cause of death in Australia, just behind cancer, according to Professor Robert Adams of Adelaide's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

People with undiagnosed COPD have a poorer quality of life and functional status than people with similar lung function who have been diagnosed and are receiving treatment.

Smoking is believed to be responsible for at least 60 per cent of COPD risk, so reducing smoking in young women is key to eliminating the problem, Prof Adams said.

As COPD is preventable and treatable, a strong public health message and funding commitment are warranted, he said.

Targeting women with additional female-specific programs on smoking and COPD is likely to have a greater impact than generalised smoking cessation programs.

He also called for special federal government policies and better GP-based initiatives to help rein in the disease.

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

The Canadian Lung Assoc last year also did a study on women and COPD www.lung.ca/media-medias/news-nouvelles_e.php?id=88 The numbers are quite frightening and probably isn't much different for you you in NZ Larry. Part of it I blieve is becasue women's lungs are smaller than men's so they feel the effects sooner.

[the bear]

If you need or want frightening statistics go to the World Health Organization website. They expect about 5,000,000 yes that is not a typo. FIVE MILLION people in the world will die this year due to smoking and tobacco related illnesses. the bear.

[cheryl]

Those stats are frightening. I picked up the nasty habit when I was about 13 years old. I'm so glad neither of my children ever picked it up. I just wonder what kind of damage their lungs got from my smoking all those years.