Menstrual characteristics in reproductive years may provide clue to lung health in middle age

Report of heavy menstrual bleeding, severe period pain, and premenstrual syndrome during women’s reproductive years is linked to increased odds of having asthma in middle age, according to a study. On the other hand, irregular period is only associated with asthma when reported during women’s 40s.

For the analysis, researchers used data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health and looked at 1,240 women born between 1973 and 1978. Data on menstrual disorders were collected in 1996 and every 3 years from 2000 to 2018.

The main outcome was current asthma, which was defined as ever having doctor-diagnosed asthma, and experiencing an asthma attack and/or using asthma medication in the last 12 months. The association between current asthma and repeated measures of menstrual disorders were estimated using logistic regression with generalized estimating equations.

Of the participants, 14.2 percent had current asthma in their 40s. Current asthma was positively associated with report of heavy menstrual bleeding (odds ratio [OR], 1.62, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.10–2.39), severe period pain (OR, 1.67, 95 percent CI, 1.10–2.55), or premenstrual syndrome (OR, 1.66, 95 percent CI, 1.20–2.31) across reproductive years.

An interaction between report of irregular periods and survey time was noted, such that report of irregular periods in later surveys had a stronger association with current asthma.

The findings suggest that women’s menstrual characteristics in their reproductive years may reflect their lung health in middle age, according to the researchers.