WOMEN & LUNG HEALTH CONFERENCE AND LUNCHEON

The statistics on women and lung disease are staggering.                          

• African American women have the highest asthma death in the U.S., more than 2.5 times higher than Caucasian women.                                   

• In the past five years, more women died of COPD than men.  In 2002 alone, more than 61,000 women died of COPD.                                     

• Over the past 30 years, the cases of lung cancer among women have increased by 143%, compared to a 9% increase among men.  In 1987, lung cancer surpasses breast cancer to become the leading cause of cancer deaths in women.