Skip to main content

Fertility Treatment Use Higher for Women With Asthma

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Sep 12, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 12, 2024 -- Women with asthma have an increased risk for fetal loss and higher use of fertility treatment, according to a study presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress, held from Sept. 7 to 11 in Vienna.

Anne Vejen Hansen, from Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre in Denmark, and colleagues examined fertility in women with asthma, identified by treatment with anti-asthmatic drugs versus nonasthmatic controls. Data were included for 769,880 women who were followed for a median of 10.8 years.

The researchers found that 77 percent of women gave birth during follow-up, regardless of exposure to asthma. Compared with controls, women with asthma experienced a higher degree of fetal loss (17.0 versus 15.7 percent) and had more use of fertility treatment (5.6 versus 5.0 percent). Women with asthma had a significantly higher risk for fertility treatment (hazard ratio [HR], 1.12; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.08 to 1.15). The highest risk for needing fertility treatment was seen for the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) step 4 to 5 (HR, 1.62; 95 percent CI, 1.43 to 1.83); the risk for needing fertility treatment was also increased for women with three or more prior exacerbations (HR, 1.38; 95 percent CI, 1.19 to 1.60).

"We found that women fulfilling the definition of asthma had a higher rate of fetal loss and an increased use of fertility treatment. The more severe the asthma and the more flare-ups the women experienced, the more likely they were to need fertility treatment," Hansen said in a statement. "Why this is, is not clear. It might be related to systemic inflammation throughout the body, including women's reproductive organs."

Abstract

More Information

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Recreational Cannabis Legalization Tied to Higher Prenatal Use

TUESDAY, Nov. 5, 2024 -- The implementation of recreational cannabis legalization (RCL) in California was associated with an increase in prenatal cannabis use, according to a...

Risk for Meniere Disease Increased With Upper Respiratory Infections

MONDAY, Nov. 4, 2024 -- Individuals with a history of upper respiratory infections (URI) have an increased risk for developing Meniere disease (MD), according to a study published...

1998 to 2023 Saw Decline in Triplet, Higher-Order Birth Rate

FRIDAY, Nov. 1, 2024 -- From 1998 to 2023, there was a decline in the triplet and higher-order birth rate, according to an October data brief published by the National Center for...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.