Ladies, take a deep breath

The breathing disorder called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hits women harder than men and in a different way, a new study finds. COPD actually consists of two different lung diseases -- chronic bronchitis, which damages the lining of the airways, and emphysema, which damages the alveoli, the tiny sacs through which oxygen enters the blood. A study of more than 1,000 COPD patients, 38.8 percent of them women, found that bronchitis is more common in women and emphysema more common in men. In addition, women in the study reported more breathlessness, a higher incidence of depression and a lower quality of life than the men.