- In Asthma, at Least, Age Is an Advantage
Older people with asthma tend to fare better than younger asthma patients, even though they have worse lung function, a new study concludes. The three-year study, reported in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (Volume 96, page 406), included people with severe or difficult-to-treat asthma. Participants were under a doctor’s care for at least one year and used a lot of medication or health care resources.
The researchers compared 566 asthma patients who were 65 years of age or older with 2,912 patients who were ages 18 to 64. The older asthma group had significantly lower lung function, but they also had significantly fewer unscheduled office visits and emergency room visits, compared with younger patients. Older asthma subjects used more inhaled corticosteroids and reported having a better quality of life than did younger patients. Even though, compared with younger patients, older people said they didn’t communicate as well with their doctors, they reported fewer problems controlling their asthma.
- Asthma Risk for Lean Women on Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy may increase women’s risk of asthma and wheezing, particularly if they are lean, suggests a recent study. Reporting in the journal Thorax (Volume 61, page 34 ), the researchers assessed 2,206 women between the ages of 46 and 54. Of these, 884 were going through menopause and 540 used hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Researchers grouped the women according to their body mass index (BMI), a calculation that uses a person’ height and weight to estimate body fat.
Analysis showed that hormone replacement therapy raised the risk of asthma by 57%, the risk of wheezing by 60%, and the risk of hay fever by 48%. In lean women, use of hormone therapy more than doubled the risk of asthma and wheezing.
Among women who did not use hormones, a larger BMI was associated with more asthma symptoms. The hormones and the excess weight may increase asthma risk in similar ways, the researchers speculated. Menopause itself, they added, was not significantly associated with asthma, wheezing, or hay fever.
