Hormone replacement treatments link with asthma and respiratory allergy
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) appears to increase a woman's risk of developing asthma or a respiratory allergy, according to research reported at the 13th annual congress of the European Respiratory Society in Vienna last week.
Norwegian researchers, led by Dr Cecilie Svanes, Bergen University, examined
data from 16,190 women aged between 26 and 54 years who were taking part
in the European community respiratory health survey study. The women,
who were living in northern Europe (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia
and Iceland), were sent a questionnaire 10 years ago and then contacted
again between 1999 and 2002.
Analysis of the responses returned by 2,589 women aged over 45 years
showed that women who had used HRT were 40 to 50 per cent more likely
to suffer from asthma or to exhibit asthma symptoms. The risk for atopic,
or allergic, asthma was even greater at 60 per cent.
“These findings could alter our understanding of asthmatic disease and
open up new avenues of research into its causes. However, so far they
are based on an epidemiological study, and therefore need to be confirmed,” Dr
Svanes said.
The same study also considered a possible link between asthma and oral
contraceptives. Data extracted from replies received from 6,512 women
aged under 45 years suggested that asthma and hay fever increase by about
a third among women who take oral contraceptives.
Antibiotics linked with
allergies Another study, presented at
the ERS congress in Vienna, indicates that children who receive
antibiotics
before six months of age have an increased risk of developing
allergies. The study author, Dr Christine Cole, of Henry Ford Hospital,
Detroit,
suggests the use of antibiotics may affect the gastrointestinal
tract and alter development of the child’s immune system.
|
|
