Asthma Risk In Women Reduced By Aspirin

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Public Health
Article Date: 21 Mar 2008 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

A study published in the journal Thorax found that women who take a small dose of aspirin on alternate days can reduce the risk of developing asthma.

Asthma is a condition concerning the respiratory system in which the airway constricts, becomes inflamed, and is lined with copious amounts of mucous. Previous research has shown that, in a randomized setting, men who are given aspirin have a small but significant reduction in risk of developing adult-onset asthma, and observational studies have alluded to a similar outcome for women.

To thoroughly test the effect on women, in a randomized setting, researchers from Harvard and Columbia University used a sample of almost 40,000 female healthcare professionals who were in the Women's Health Study (WHS). The WHS was a large scale, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that focused on aspirin and vitamin E. The sample of women were all aged 45 and above and were not suffering from serious illness, allergy, or asthma at the beginning of the study.

The study design called for participants to be randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group took 100 mg of aspirin every other day, and the second took a placebo. Over the course of 10 years, researchers monitored the health of the study participants.

Results of the study showed that during the 10-year period, the number of new asthma case diagnosed among the group taking aspirin was 10% lower than that of the placebo group. Among the 37,270 women, 872 new cases of asthma were diagnosed in the aspirin group and 963 in the placebo group.

This main finding held even after controlling for possible confounding factors such as age, menopausal status, exercise levels, and smoking. In addition, the researchers found that vitamin E supplements - though primarily being tested to see if they prevented cardiovascular disease and cancer - did not affect the conclusions regarding asthma.

It should be noted, however, that aspirin did not reduce the risk of asthma in obese women. Also, the authors caution that for 10% of people who have previously been diagnosed with asthma, aspirin can actually male symptoms worse. Further research is needed to find out the mechanism in which low-dose asthma might be reducing adult asthma risk.

Randomised aspirin assignment and risk of adult onset asthma in the Women's Health Study
T Kurth, R G Barr, J M Gaziano, E Buring
Thorax. (2008).
doi 10.1136/thx.2007.091447
Click Here to See Article Online

Written by: Peter M Crosta
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today