Women experience more severe COPD symptoms than men. A new study at Karolinska is exploring the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.
The incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is rising in the developed world. In nine of ten cases the disease is caused by smoking tobacco and results in chronic airway inflammation. COPD often leads to premature death.
“Today we only have pulmonary function testing available to help us make the diagnosis, but this is just a rough measurement that isn’t specific for COPD. We want to find proteins that can be used to make the diagnosis,” says Åsa Wheelock, pulmonary toxicologist at Karolinska.
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Åsa Wheelock studies inflammatory cells in COPD. |
A new study is investigating 120 healthy persons, healthy smokers, and patients with mild COPD. Their airways are lavaged and proteins and inflammatory cells in the pleural lavage fluid are analyzed in the hunt for markers. Study participants also undergo CT, interviews, and pulmonary function testing. The researchers are also trying to find out why COPD has a more severe effect on women than on men.
“We may not be able to find an explanation for this, but we are fairly certain that we should look in inflammatory cells in the pleural lavage fluid with respect to diagnostic markers.”
Editor: Karin Nordin
Photo: Ingela Wåhlstrand