By Nina Hermansen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photo: Colourbox

COPD is the single disease in Denmark that costs the most lives every year, about 10 a day. Up to 400,000 Danes live with the disease, and about half do not know it.

Although women are affected more frequently than men, the majority of research, diagnostic criteria and treatment guidelines are based on studies of male patients. This may be one of the explanations for the fact that many women are diagnosed late, thus delaying the opportunity to slow the progression of the disease in time.

A research team at Aalborg University and Aalborg University Hospital, led by professor and senior physician Ulla Møller Weinreich, has just launched a project to map differences in COPD trajectories between men and women, from the first serious deterioration until death.

"Although COPD figures significantly in the disease statistics, we know far too little – especially about the course of the disease in women. Previous research suggests that women often develop more severe COPD earlier in life and that the disease progresses differently. Therefore, new knowledge is crucial so that we can ensure better and more targeted treatment of both sexes," says Ulla Møller Weinreich.

Atypical symptoms in women

The project is supported by Independent Research Fund Denmark and draws on extensive data from the Danish health registries. The researchers will investigate differences in, among other things, disease onset, hospital re-admissions, attachment to the labour market and the need for help.

"Our hypothesis is that women experience atypical symptoms such as fatigue to a greater extent than the classic smoker's cough. This can mean that the disease is overlooked or diagnosed too late. At the same time, there are indications that women are more biologically vulnerable to tobacco smoke, which may accelerate the progression of the disease," explains Ulla Møller Weinreich.

She also expects that the project will show that COPD affects men and women differently on a social level.

Topical for the government's chronic disease packages

The project is particularly relevant now given that the central features of the government's new chronic disease packages are early detection and better management.

Today, 60 percent of Danes who are diagnosed with COPD before the age of 60 are outside the labour market. A newer, smaller study indicates that female patients are often even more socially vulnerable.

"If we want to give COPD patients the opportunity to maintain both their working life and quality of life at home, we need to learn much more about how the disease progresses differently – and act in time," says Ulla Møller Weinreich.

The project will run over three years.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.