Asthma News for Women

Birth control bills may benefit women with asthma, while taking acetaminophen may be associated with a higher risk of developing asthma.

Two new studies, both published in the November issue of CHEST, analyzed women and asthma.

In the birth control pill study at McMaster University in Canada, researchers studied 17 women with asthma during their menstrual cycles. The study results revealed that women with asthma taking oral contraceptives had lower exhaled nitric oxide levels (eNO) than women who were taking the pill. eNO is a marker of airway inflammation associated with asthma. Researchers think that the pill just could have a potential role in treating premenopausal women with asthma.

Another study isn’t so positive for women who take acetaminophen. Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada found that acetaminophen could be linked with an increased risk of asthma and wheezing in children and adults who take the popular pain reliever.

To determine the association between increased risk of asthma with acetaminophen use, researched analyzed data from 19 different clinical studies, representing a total of 425,000 participants. Results revealed that prenatal acetaminophen use increased the risk of wheezing in children by 50%, while the asthma rate in children was increased by 28%. For adults, the risk of asthma was 74% higher for adults using the drug compared to non-users. WebMD discusses this study in detail, or you can just read the highlights at Science Daily. Researchers caution that the study merely revealed an “association,” but not necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship between asthma and acetaminophen.

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