Menopause Is Associated with Excess Risk for New-Onset Asthma

Asthma is more prevalent in boys than girls, but this tendency reverses in adulthood. Menopause is a systemic inflammatory state that predisposes women to cardiovascular disease and might have similar effects on pulmonary disease. However, epidemiological studies of the association between menopause and new-onset asthma have yielded inconsistent results.

Researchers followed a cohort of 2322 premenopausal Northern European women (age, >44) who were free from asthma at baseline. After 12 years, 19% of women were still premenopausal, 13% were transitional, 58% were early postmenopausal, and 11% were late postmenopausal. In analyses adjusted for age and other potentially confounding variables, women who were in transition, early postmenopause, …