If you think you’re safe from asthma because you never had it as a child, you might want to reconsider. Asthma can develop at any age – even if you are 20, 40, or 60 years old. Although adult-onset asthma isn’t as common as childhood asthma, it still happens. One group of adults, in particular, is quite vulnerable to developing asthma later in life: menopausal women.
A 2015 study published in The Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology revealed that menopausal and post-menopausal women are almost twice as likely to develop asthma as non-menopausal women. If you are a woman of a certain age, you should be aware of the signs and symptoms to look out for and, more importantly, learn how to lower your risk.
Asthma and Menopause: What’s the Connection?
It might seem strange that two seemingly unrelated conditions, menopause and asthma, are linked. However, the connection becomes much clearer once you understand one fact: asthma is influenced by hormones. Research shows that one-third of women experience worse asthma symptoms just before or during their period, teen girls are more likely to develop asthma than teen boys, and women are more likely to develop asthma during or after a pregnancy—all because of hormones.
So, it’s not surprising that menopausal women, who are going through the most significant hormonal shift of their adult life, are at increased risk. It may seem unfair that menopausal women who are already dealing with hot flashes, mood swings, vaginal dryness, insomnia, brain fog, and weight gain also have to deal with asthma. Furthermore, adult-onset asthma is more severe than the kind that strikes during childhood. Asthma symptoms come and go during childhood, but adults who develop asthma usually have symptoms that persist and require medication.
If you are a woman entering mid-life, you need to stay alert for the signs of asthma, even if you’ve never had it before. Asthma symptoms include:
- Feeling short of breath
- Pain or tightness in the chest
- Coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath that leads to insomnia
- A whistling or wheezing sound when exhaling
- Coughing or wheezing attacks worsened by a cold or the flu
If you are a woman entering menopause and you already have asthma, watch out for worsening symptoms, including worsening lung function and respiratory symptoms like wheezing, breathlessness, or coughing.
Managing Menopause and Asthma Risk in Mid-Life
If you’ve never had asthma, there’s one menopause treatment that can increase your risk of developing it during menopause: hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Studies show that postmenopausal women who try hormone replacement therapy are twice as likely to develop asthma as postmenopausal women who don’t try it. So, you might want to avoid this menopause treatment to keep your asthma risk down.
You can also reduce your risk of adult-onset asthma by keeping inflammation levels down. Asthma, like many other diseases, is tied to inflammation. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet, like the Mediterranean diet. Engaging in regular exercise is helpful, too, since obesity and a sedentary lifestyle also increase your risk of developing adult-onset asthma.
If you already have asthma, it’s important to do what’s necessary to keep your symptoms under control. This may include oral medication or inhalers. There are also several natural remedies that can lessen the severity of your symptoms, like fish oil, a practice known as nasal rinsing, vitamin C, and vitamin D.
And if you’re avoiding HRT because of the asthma risk, there are other natural menopause treatments you can turn to for help. Some alternatives include acupuncture and herbal remedies for menopause relief, such as black cohosh, ginseng, red clover, hops, valerian, dong Quai, and St. John’s Wort.
