Menopausal asthma-much ado about nothing? An observational study.

Menopausal women with asthma are characterized by an increased incidence of irreversible airway obstruction regardless of disease duration. This may indicate that age may contribute to pulmonary function impairment in asthmatic women independently of their hormonal status at the time of asthma diagnosis. Our results failed to confirm the presence of specific asthma features which would allow to distinguish the phenotype of menopausal asthma.