Hormone Replacement Therapy Is Linked to Asthma

A Nurses' Health Study by Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital found that women who use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are twice as likely to develop asthma as are women who do not take HRT. Although the chances of developing asthma late in life are slim, women may want to consider this risk before deciding to treat menopausal symptoms with hormones.

The study, the results of which appeared in a March issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, included more than 70,000 women in their 40s and older who were followed for 10 years. In that time, 342 of the women developed asthma, and researchers found that users of estrogen alone or estrogen plus progestin supplements were twice as likely to develop asthma as nonusers.