Boys More Likely to Outgrow Asthma
Boys More Likely to Outgrow Asthma
Study Confirms Key Gender Differences in Asthma
In an accompanying editorial, childhood asthma researcher Jorrit Gerritsen, MD, PhD, writes that although sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone may explain the gender differences in asthma progression, other factors may also be at play.
Another possible mechanism: Studies show that from around age 16 females have smaller and narrower airways in proportion to lung volume than males of the same age. This might also explain why many boys with asthma become increasingly asymptomatic as they get older.
Gerritsen concludes that by continuing to follow the children in the study into adulthood, Tantisira and colleagues could further the understanding of the natural course of asthma in males and females.
Those insights could lead to better treatments for asthma patients, American Thoracic Society past-president John Heffner, MD, tells WebMD.
"The next step is to try to understand the factors that may be diminishing asthma around puberty to see if we might leverage those factors into better treatments," he says.
Boys More Likely to Outgrow Asthma
Study Confirms Key Gender Differences in Asthma
More Research Needed
In an accompanying editorial, childhood asthma researcher Jorrit Gerritsen, MD, PhD, writes that although sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone may explain the gender differences in asthma progression, other factors may also be at play.
Another possible mechanism: Studies show that from around age 16 females have smaller and narrower airways in proportion to lung volume than males of the same age. This might also explain why many boys with asthma become increasingly asymptomatic as they get older.
Gerritsen concludes that by continuing to follow the children in the study into adulthood, Tantisira and colleagues could further the understanding of the natural course of asthma in males and females.
Those insights could lead to better treatments for asthma patients, American Thoracic Society past-president John Heffner, MD, tells WebMD.
"The next step is to try to understand the factors that may be diminishing asthma around puberty to see if we might leverage those factors into better treatments," he says.
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