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Taken from WWW.pubmed.gov (testosterone studies)
Thorax. 2006 Jan;61(1):34-40. Epub 2005 Oct 21.
Erratum in:
Thorax. 2006 Mar;61(3):274. Franklin, K [corrected to Franklin, KA].
Hormone replacement therapy, body mass index and asthma in perimenopausal women: a cross sectional survey.
Gómez Real F, Svanes C, Björnsson EH, Franklin KA, Gislason D, et al
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Haukeland University Hospital, 5021 Bergen, Norway. francisco.real@med.uib.no
BACKGROUND: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and obesity both appear to increase the risk of asthma. A study was undertaken
to investigate the association of HRT with asthma and hay fever in a population of perimenopausal women, focusing on a possible
interaction with body mass index (BMI).
METHODS: A postal questionnaire was sent to population based samples in Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden
in 1999-2001, and 8588 women aged 25-54 years responded (77%). Pregnant women, women using oral contraceptives, and
women <46 years were excluded. Analyses included 2206 women aged 46-54 years of which 884 were menopausal
and 540 used HRT. Stratified analyses by BMI in tertiles were performed.
RESULTS: HRT was associated with an increased risk for asthma (OR 1.57 (95% CI 1.07 to 2.30)), wheeze
(OR 1.60 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.10)), and hay fever (OR 1.48 (95% CI 1.15 to 1.90)). The associations with asthma and wheeze
were significantly stronger among women with BMI in the lower tertile (asthma OR 2.41 (95% CI 1.21 to 4.77); wheeze
OR 2.04 (95% CI 1.23 to 3.36)) than in heavier women (asthma: p(interaction) = 0.030; wheeze: p(interaction) = 0.042).
Increasing BMI was associated with more asthma (OR 1.08 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.12) per kg/m2). This effect was only
found in women not taking HRT (OR 1.10 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.14) per kg/m2); no such association was detected in HRT
users (OR 1.00 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.08) per kg/m2) (p(interaction) = 0.046). Menopause was not significantly
associated with asthma, wheeze, or hay fever.
CONCLUSIONS: In perimenopausal women there is an interaction between HRT and BMI in the effects on asthma.
Lean women who were HRT users had as high a risk for asthma as overweight women not taking HRT. It is suggested
that HRT and overweight increase the risk of asthma through partly common pathways.
PMID: 16244093 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Dr. Gordon: There is a common pathway, low to absent testosterone. Note that these are perimenopausal
women, not postmenopausal women, therefore their testosterone loss has been greater than their estrogen loss.
The lean women have no testosterone because the hormone replacement therapy has put their ovaries completely to sleep.
The obese women
are obese, at least in part, because they have very low to absent testosterone.
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