MILAN -- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may help slow lung function declines in middle-aged women, according to research presented Tuesday at the European Respiratory Society International Congress here.
The newly reported longitudinal analysis of lung function among European women followed for approximately two decades suggests a role for female sex hormones in lung-function preservation, said researcher Kai Triebner, of the University of Bergen, Norway.
Triebner and colleagues analyzed data on 3,713 women followed for approximately 20 years from the early 1990s to 2010 as participants in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey. Lung function was assessed at enrollment and 20 years later using forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1).
Action Points
- Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
For the analysis, women who took oral short-term (n=73) or long-term HRT (for 2+ years; n=144) were matched with women who never took HRT for age, height, age at menopause, smoking history, and baseline lung function. Mean age in 2010 was 59 (range 44-67).
Compared to never HRT users, long-term oral HRT was associated with less loss of lung function during the two decade period, by -56.7 mL (95% CI -104.5 to -8.8) for FEV1 and -65 mL (95% CI -118.3 to -12.8) for FVC.
Triebner explained that lung function peaks during the mid-twenties and then declines steadily.
He noted that women taking long-term HRT lost an average of 46 ml less of lung volume over the two decades than HRT never-users but this difference was most likely not clinically significant for healthy women.
"However, in women who are suffering from airway diseases, the decline in lung function may influence quality of life, as it could lead to an increase in shortness of breath, reduced work capacity and fatigue," he noted in a press release.
European Respiratory Society president Mina Gaga, MD, of the Athens Chest Hospital, Athens, Greece, told 51˶ that while sex hormones are known to influence lung function, it is far too soon to recommend hormone replacement therapy to improve lung health, even to women with lung disease.
"We would certainly never do that based on one study," she said. "And while this study is intriguing, there have long been safety concerns and debate about the pros and cons of HRT. Before we give any treatment with a lot of physiological consequences, we have to be sure about its safety."
Primary Source
European Respiratory Society International Congress 2017