Breathing: are males and females different?
Historicaly, the research in physiology is based on males. Importantly, it has been proven that sex affects susceptibility for certain respiratory diseases, as well as breathing control. A study from Brazil reviews the role of male and female gonadal hormones in respiration. Authors found that sex hormones plays a role in the incidence and development of such conditions: asthma, sleep-disordered breathing, sudden infant death syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Besides, sex also effects breathing control via motor output to the respiratory muscles. Therefore, gonadal hormones have shown to a direct impact on respiration, acting on the main control mechanisms: central and peripheral chemoreceptors and muscles modulating the respiratory drive.