Survey study, 2007
Do some women with asthma have worse asthma around their period?
Yes. About 11.3% of menstruating women with asthma had significantly worse asthma around their period, and these women had more severe asthma overall and more emergency visits.
What they did
Doctors surveyed patients with asthma and their physicians over 8 weeks in Japan in 2004. They asked about asthma control, emergency episodes, and whether asthma worsened around menstruation. Women whose asthma got worse with their period were placed in one group; those whose asthma didn't worsen were in another.
What they found
About 11.3% of menstruating women with asthma experienced worse asthma around their period. These women had more severe asthma, worse disease control, needed more oral steroid medications, experienced more emergency episodes, and had a higher rate of aspirin sensitivity (25.5%) compared to women whose asthma didn't change with their period (8.4%).
What it means for you
Some women's asthma significantly worsens during their period and these women tend to have more serious asthma requiring closer medical attention. However, many patients and doctors may not recognize this pattern because no one specifically asks about it. This study relied on people reporting their experiences, so some cases may have been missed.
11.3%
Period-related asthma rate
25.5%
Aspirin sensitivity in PMA
8.4%
Aspirin sensitivity other
About the study
- Original title
- Analysis of perimenstrual asthma based on questionnaire surveys in Japan
- Authors
- Suzuki K, Hasegawa T, Sakagami T et al.
- Journal
- Allergology international : official journal of the Japanese Society of Allergology
- Year
- 2007
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 54
- What was tested
- None - survey
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.2332/allergolint.o-06-475