Early Age at Menarche, Lung Function, and Adult Asthma
- Ferenc Macsali1,2,
- Francisco Gómez Real1,2,
- Estel Plana3,
- Jordi Sunyer3,
- Josep Anto3,
- Julia Dratva4,
- Christer Janson5,
- Deborah Jarvis6,
- Ernst Reidar Omenaas2,7,
- Elisabeth Zemp4,
- Matthias Wjst8,
- Benedicte Leynaert9 and
- Cecilie Svanes2,10
- 1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Haukeland University Hospital, and 2Bergen Respiratory Research Group, Institute of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; 3Centre for Research on Environmental Epidemiology, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; 4Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 5Department of Medical Sciences, Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; 6Department of Public Health Sciences, King's College, London, United Kingdom; 7Center for Clinical Research, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, 8Molecular Epidemiology, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany; 9Epidémiologie des Maladies Respiratoires, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U700, Faculté de Médecine Xavier Bichat, Paris, France; and 10Respiratory Research Group, Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
- Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Ferenc Macsali, M.D., Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Haukeland University Hospital, 5021 Bergen, Norway. E-mail: ferenc.macsali{at}med.uib.no
Abstract
Rationale: Hormonal and metabolic status appears to influence lung health in women, and there are findings suggesting that early menarche may be related to asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and breast cancer.
Objectives: This study investigates whether age at menarche is related to adult lung function and asthma.
Methods: Among participants in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey II, 3,354 women aged 27–57 years from random population samples in 21 centers responded to a questionnaire concerning women's health (1998–2002). Of these women, 2,873 had lung function measurements, 2,136 had measurements of bronchial hyperreactivity, and 2,743 had IgE measurements. Logistic, linear, and negative binomial regression analyses included adjustment for age, height, body mass index, education, smoking, family size, and center.
Measurements and Main Results: FEV1 and FVC were lower and asthma was more common in women with early menarche. Women reporting menarche at age 10 years or less, as compared with women with menarche at age 13 years (reference category), had lower FEV1 (adjusted difference, −113 ml; 95% confidence interval [CI], −196 to −33 ml) and FVC (−126 ml; 95% CI, −223 to –28 ml); also lower FEV1 expressed as a percentage of the predicted value (−3.28%; 95% CI, −6.25 to −0.30%) and FVC expressed as a percentage of the predicted value (−3.63%; 95% CI, −6.64 to −0.62%). Women with early menarche more often had asthma symptoms (odds ratio, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.09–2.97), asthma with bronchial hyperreactivity (odds ratio, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.06–7.34), and higher asthma symptom score (mean ratio, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.12–2.21).
Conclusions: Women with early menarche had lower lung function and more asthma in adulthood. This supports a role for metabolic and hormonal factors in women's respiratory health.
- Received December 18, 2009.
- Accepted August 24, 2010.
- © 2011 The American Thoracic Society
