More females die of asthma ‘triggered by sex hormones’

WOMEN with asthma are twice as likely to die from an attack than men, a charity has said, as it warned female sex hormones can trigger an episode.

Asthma and Lung UK said that over the past five years, more than twothirds of asthma deaths in the UK have been among women.

The charity said that the current “one-size-fits-all” approach to asthma treatment is “not working” because it does not take into account the impact that female sex hormones during puberty, periods, pregnancy and menopause can have on asthma symptoms and attacks. It called for more to be done to tackle “stark health inequality”.

Between 2014-15 and 2019-20 more than 5,100 women in the UK died from an asthma attack, compared with fewer than 2,300 men, the charity said.

Analysing death rates by sex in official data, the charity found that women were 1.81 times more likely to die from an asthma attack than men.

Emergency hospital admissions in England show that among those aged 20 to 49, women were 2.5 times more likely to be admitted to hospital for asthma treatment compared with men.

Asthma and Lung UK said many people are unaware that fluctuations in female sex hormones can cause asthma symptoms to flare up or even trigger life-threatening attacks.

It has called for more research to examine the sex-related differences in asthma, and is encouraging GPS to explore this potential trigger with their patients, and create tailored adjustments to a patient’s medication regime.

Women are also being encouraged to take their preventer medication as prescribed, ensure they attend their annual asthma review, and to keep a symptom diary which could potentially help identify triggers.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma and Lung UK, said: “When it comes to research funding, women with asthma have drawn the short straw. We urgently need to see more investment in research in this area.”