Asthma In Older Women

Physician’s Weekly discloses how older women are more likely to report having asthma than older men, and also have a 30% higher asthma-related mortality rate.

To discover why, Dr. Alan P. Baptist (MD,MPH) conducted a literature review in which he finds data suggesting that hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle often play a large role in asthma symptoms. Other risk factors were also identified.

Assessing asthma in older women

As a result of his review, Dr. Baptist recommends that physicians use Peak Flow Meters to assess asthma in older women because this particular group has a decreased perception of breathlessness.

There are other scientific studies showing that women’s breathing does indeed differ to that of men’s and results in women feeling more out of breath. One study shows that the diaphragm in a woman has to work harder to compensate for smaller lungs and narrower airways.

Another study finds that the respiratory muscles in women use more energy when breathing, consuming a greater amount of oxygen. Another study on physically active young adults shows that even in this younger and more active age group, subjective differences appear which may partly be due to underlying differences in breathing patterns and operating lung volumes during exercise.

POWERbreathe breathing training for asthma

Women of any age therefore could benefit from exercising their breathing muscles, the inspiratory muscles (mainly the diaphragm and intercostals), with POWERbreathe Medic Plus to make them stronger and more resistant to fatigue. And because POWERbreathe is drug-free, it has no side effects or drug interactions.