Gender Bias

PH is definitely linked to gender. Women are more than twice as likely as men to develop PH. At some PH centers across the United States, the occurrence of PH ranges from being twice as common in women to nine times as common.

Among 571,461 patients hospitalized with PH between 1995 and 1998, 61 percent were women and 37 percent were younger than age 65.

Women usually develop PH during their childbearing years for unknown reasons. For a woman with PH, the question of pregnancy can be a painful one because it is associated with life-threatening risks for both mother and baby.

A review of reports published between 1978 and 1996 that looked at maternal deaths within 35 days of delivery, found that the death rate for patients with PH ranged from 30 to 56 percent.

Women with PH are often forced to choose between having a family and protecting their own lives – a choice most healthy women never have to face.

Even though pulmonary hypertension strikes women more often than men, men are also affected, as are infants and children.

Facts from PHA webstie

An article on this topic appeared on your total health's site yesterday.