If you're female, over age 20, and having breathing problems, you might have adult onset asthma. During childhood, more boys than girls are diagnosed with asthma. But after puberty, girls outpace boys in asthma incidents.
Several studies have linked asthma attacks to hormonal changes just prior to and during a woman's period. One study, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found a four-fold increase in emergency room admissions by adult non-pregnant women (aged 13 to 47 years) the three days before menstruation plus the first four days of menstrual bleeding. Symptoms don't appear to be any more severe during this time period than at any other during a woman's cycle.
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Another study from the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women were almost twice as likely as men to be treated for asthma symptoms in the emergency room. When comparing emergency room visits by gender, researchers concluded that women sought treatment when their symptoms were less severe, were more likely to be admitted as inpatients, and tended to have longer hospital stays. Authors of the study cited several possible factors, including under-treatment of men, use of preventive medicine by women, and the role of estrogen or progesterone.
Numerous studies have noted female predominance of asthma after adolescence, suggesting a possible link to hormonal changes. Some women experience their first asthma symptoms during or following pregnancy. Others have developed asthma during menopause. After menopause, women appear to have a drop-off in asthma incidence.
A study reported on in the American Journal of Critical Care Medicine suggested a link between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and an increased risk of asthma and called for further studies. An ongoing Harvard Nurses Health Study of 121,701 women, which began in 1976, has found HRT to be associated with an increased risk of asthma. The risk of asthma increased with dose and duration of HRT use. Current users of estrogen and progestin, and past users of HRT had similarly elevated risks of asthma. |
