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Sex Differences in Normal Pulmonary Structure and Function at Rest and During Exercise

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Gender, Sex Hormones and Respiratory Disease

Part of the book series: Respiratory Medicine ((RM))

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Abstract

Women have been reported to exhibit several anatomic and physiologic characteristics that distinguish their responses to exercise from those of men. These factors have been shown to influence the training response and contribute to lower maximal aerobic power in women. Additionally, the reproductive hormones, estrogen and progesterone, can influence ventilation, substrate metabolism, thermoregulation, and pulmonary function during exercise. Pulmonary structural and morphologic differences between men and women include smaller vital capacity and maximal expiratory flow rates, reduced airway diameter, and a smaller diffusion surface in women compared to age- and height-matched men. These differences may have an effect on the integrated ventilatory response, on respiratory muscle work, and on pulmonary gas exchange during exercise. Specifically, recent evidence suggests that during heavy exercise, women demonstrate greater expiratory flow limitation, an increased work of breathing, and perhaps greater exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia compared to men. The consequence of these pulmonary effects has the potential to adversely affect aerobic capacity and exercise tolerance in women.

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  1. Department of Kinesiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Craig A. Harms PhD, Joshua R. Smith MS & Stephanie P. Kurti MS

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  1. Craig A. Harms PhD
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  2. Joshua R. Smith MS
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  3. Stephanie P. Kurti MS
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Correspondence to Craig A. Harms PhD .

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  1. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    Anna R. Hemnes

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Harms, C.A., Smith, J.R., Kurti, S.P. (2016). Sex Differences in Normal Pulmonary Structure and Function at Rest and During Exercise. In: Hemnes, A. (eds) Gender, Sex Hormones and Respiratory Disease. Respiratory Medicine. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23998-9_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23998-9_1

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23996-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23998-9

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