Study: Birth control pills may reduce severe asthma risk

Hospital admissions, emergency care department visits, and prescriptions for asthma treatment were tracked from the start of 2000 until the end of 2016 for a total of 83, 084 women to gauge changes in the severity of the condition. Previous and current hormonal contraceptive use (combined oestrogen/progestogen and progestogen-only) for periods of 1-2 years, 3-4 years, or 5 plus years was compared with no use at all.

At the start of the study, around a third (34 per cent) of the women were using hormonal contraceptives: 25 per cent combined and nine per cent progestogen-only. The proportion of women who had bouts of severe asthma rose with increasing age and BMI and a higher number of previous pregnancies. The findings showed that previous and current use of any and combined hormonal contraceptives was associated with a lower, albeit relatively small, risk of severe asthma bouts compared with no use at all.

And while the use of hormonal contraceptives for one-two years didn't affect risk, use for three-four years and for five or more years was associated with a lower risk compared with no use at all. "It's still not clear how synthetic sex hormones might affect asthma, further research will be needed to explore the underlying biological processes," the team noted.

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