Oral contraceptives may benefit female asthma patients

05 Nov 2009 - Posted by the Editorial Team

Taking oral contraceptives may benefit the health of female asthma patients, the results of a new study have suggested.

Researchers at McMaster University, Canada, discovered that women with asthma who were not taking oral contraceptives during their natural menstrual cycles had lower exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) levels than women who were taking oral contraceptives.

This is a marker of airway inflammation linked with asthma, with women not using oral contraceptives having higher mean eNO levels.

The study, which involved 17 women with asthma, also revealed that an increase in oestrogen levels was associated with a decrease in eNO among individuals not using oral contraceptives.

Conversely, an increase in progesterone was linked with an increase in eNO, with researchers concluding that oral contraceptives may have a potential role in the management of pre-menopausal women with asthma.

Asthma tends to be more common in adult women than men, although the condition is more prevalent in male children than it is in female children.

Visit the Asthma Knowledge Centre

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