Why Sex Hormones Can Help (or Hurt) Your Asthma

that impact the sex hormones like age and personal medical history when treating people for asthma.
The power of sex hormones
Up to this point weve been talking about symptom severity in general terms. But its important to realize just how significantly sex hormones may impact people living with severe asthma. So lets put a number to it Onethird of females of reproductive age find that their asthma symptoms get worse immediately before getting their period.
Onethird is a lot of people and the result more visits to the ER is no small thing. The physical and emotional resources not to mention the time and money poured into managing severe asthma can be draining.
And theres more. Asthma prevalence is also higher in people who get their period early in life have multiple pregnancies andor have hormonal conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome.
Asthma and oral contraceptives
If hormone levels can impact your asthma symptoms you may be wondering What happens to people who take hormonal birth control?
In a study researchers found that people who took oral contraceptives had a 14 3 risk of developing asthma in their lifetime. Females who didnt take birth control had a lifetime risk of 8 8.
But wait! It gets more complicated.
We think birth control pills may actually benefit some people who get premenstrual asthma Dr. Solanki adds. If they take it because their period is irregular it may reduce their hormonal peaks. But studies have been inconclusive and more research is needed.
Endometriosis and asthma
Endometriosis is a painful condition in which tissue thats similar to the tissue lining the uterus during the menstrual cycle grows outside of it.
Both asthma and endometriosis are related to an imbalance of the sex hormones and estrogen in particular Dr. Solanki explains. In fact theres growing evidence to suggest that people who are transmasculine and take testosterone as part of their transition process experience endometriosis at higher rates than cisgender people whose gender identity corresponds with what they were assigned at birth women do.
Research suggests that theres an association between asthma and endometriosis. While research is ongoing theres early evidence to suggest the two conditions may be