New Delhi, January 9 (IANS). A research has revealed that women who undergo lung transplant are more likely to survive for five years than men.
However, women are less likely to receive a lung transplant and spend an average of six weeks longer on the waiting list, according to a study published in ERJ Open Research.
Researchers encourage changes in regulation and clinical guidelines to address this disparity.
“It is important to understand that people on the waiting list for a transplant have a very poor quality of life, sometimes too healthy to leave their home,” said lead researcher Dr. Adrien Tissot, of Nantes University Hospital in France. They do not survive and their risk of death is very high.
Lung transplant is the only treatment for people with end-stage respiratory failure and patients on the waiting list have a very high risk of death. A transplant can restore normal lung function, improving patients’ lives.
The study included 1,710 participants, including 802 women and 908 men.
The patients were followed for about six years after their transplant. The main underlying diseases affecting patients were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis and interstitial lung disease.
Dr. Tissot’s research found that women had to wait an average of 115 days for a lung transplant, while men had to wait 73 days.
After transplant, survival rates for women were higher than for men, with 70 percent of female recipients still alive five years after transplant, compared to 61 percent for men.
Researchers also found that most women found donors according to gender and height.
According to the researchers, physicians, patients, and policy makers should acknowledge this gender difference as it is necessary to take appropriate steps.
–IANS
MKS/AS
