Study, 1996
Can asthma get much worse right before your period?
Yes. One woman had life-threatening asthma attacks that only happened before her period. When a medication temporarily stopped her cycle, the attacks stopped.
What they did
Doctors reported a case of a 41-year-old woman with long-standing, severe asthma. She had life-threatening asthma attacks and doctors suspected they were linked to her menstrual cycle. They treated her with buserelin, a medication that creates temporary chemical menopause to see if this would stop the attacks.
What they found
Once the medication created chemical menopause, the woman no longer had life-threatening asthma attacks, suggesting they were linked to her menstrual cycle. The finding suggests estrogen and progesterone may be involved.
What it means for you
Some women with very severe asthma may have attacks specifically tied to their menstrual cycle. Stopping the cycle temporarily may help in these severe cases. The main limitation is this is only one person, so we do not know how common this is or if it would help other women.
1
Participant
41
Age of participant
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual Exacerbation of Life‐Threatening Asthma: Effect of Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone Analogue Therapy
- Authors
- Alun L. Edwards, M Sarah Rose, Lois Donovan et al.
- Journal
- Canadian Respiratory Journal
- Year
- 1996
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- Buserelin to create temporary chemical menopause
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1155/1996/691249
Original abstract
Variability in the severity of asthma during various phases of the menstrual cycle has been frequently suspected. However, the hormonal changes that might affect mediators of bronchospasm have yet to be elucidated. The case of a 41‐year‐old woman suffering from longstanding asthma with life‐threatening exacerbations is reported. The patient was treated with buserelin, a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue, which created a temporary chemical menopause and thus permitted diagnosis of a premenstrual exacerbation of asthma and offered insight into potential therapy. GnRH analogues may therefore be of value in assessing women with severe asthma suspected to vary with the menstrual cycle. The addition of estrogens and progestins at the same time as treatment with GnRH analogue may be of value in determining the role of these hormones in the pathogenesis of menstrually related exacerbations of asthma.
Reproduced under CC-BY.
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