HRT therapy appears to increase risk of hospitalization from severe asthma attacks

Women taking postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may have an increased risk of severe asthma attacks requiring hospitalization, scientists warn, urging that these therapies should carry a stronger warning about the risk of causing potentially fatal asthma exacerbations in susceptible women.

A new study was presented yesterday at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam, Netherlands, adds to the debate over the health effects of the drug which helps women through the menopause. Previous studies have found a link between asthma and HRT, but this is the first to suggest that the drug can lead to severe exacerbations of asthma, which could lead to hospitalization.

Researchers Klaus Bonnelykke from COPSAC (the COpenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood) at the Danish Pediatric Asthma Center and Zorana Jovanovic Andersen from the Danish Cancer Society recorded the intake of HRT in 23,138 women from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort. They also denoted incidence of asthma hospitalizations and obtained information on participants' smoking status, occupational exposure, body mass index and whether or not they had undergone a hysterectomy to account for other factors relating to asthma incidence.