You may have thought that asthma is just for kids, but new research shows that asthma is an issue for menopausal women as well. Investigators analyzed data from 2000 to 2010 and compared the rates of asthma hospitalization among men and women for different decades. Of the 3,063,045 asthma hospitalizations the researchers looked at for the specific study period, 72% were among women. The ratio of female-to-male asthma hospitalizations particularly peaked in the 50s and 60s age groups.

This finding adds to the growing evidence that estrogen plays an important role in asthma. Previous research has shown a female predominance in asthma prevalence after puberty. As an example, an NIH study in 2009 demonstrated a prevalence of asthma in boys and girls younger than 15 years of age to be 11.9% and 7.7%, respectively. The striking difference shifted when examining young adults aged 15-34 years, with the prevalence of asthma as 6.3% in men and 9.6% in women.

Ultimately, the research shows that asthma is a women's health issue, and menopausal women should continue to monitor their asthma. Menopausal women should consult with an allergist to lessen the risk of asthma hospitalizations.

To learn more about the different diseases that can come at play during menopause, visit http://menopausenu.org/

A recent study published by researchers at Duke University highlighted the fact that some populations of women are more receptive to weight-management interventions than programs advertising weight loss. Weight loss is difficult across all populations and many programs aimed at reducing the pounds may end up providing only a temporary reprieve.  As weight gain and obesity are ever-increasing concerns, some researchers have tried to tackle this problem from another angle.  Instead of designing weight loss programs, health enthusiasts should focus on weight management initiatives for certain populations.

Duke University researcher Gary Bennett, PhD, who headed this study, found that African-American women responded more favorably to a weight control program than the traditional weight loss regime. On average, premenopausal African-American women have more weight gain per year than women of other racial and ethnic groups.  Furthermore, by the time African-American women are 59, twice as many “have class 2 obesity as do white women and three times have the prevalence of class 3 obesity.”  Current obesity treatments are not as effective for this population of women, and their underrepresentation in clinical trials studying weight loss interventions points to a dire need for understanding and implementing positive approaches to fight obesity. Re-angling the strategy towards prevention of weight gain requires a less-intensive intervention strategy, which many women are more responsive to.

The clinical trial involved overweight and class 1 obese women between the ages of 25 to 44.  The women were randomly placed in either a health clinic’s usual care cohort or the experimental “Shape Program.” The intervention program had five primary components: tailored behavior modification goals, weekly self-monitoring by interactive voice response, 12 monthly counseling calls by a registered dietitian, tailored skills training, and a 12-month YMCA membership. After the 18 month trial, patients in the “Shape Program” had a “mean weight loss of more than 2 pounds versus continued weight gain” in the control group. These positive results have inspired Duke researchers to continue unlocking the motivations behind weight management and weight loss in women. Furthermore, this research provides an opportunity for clinicians to breach the subject of weight management with their patients through a new lens.

To read more about this study, please click here.

Exercise is a common prescription for insomnia. But spending 45 minutes on the treadmill one day won’t translate into better sleep that night, according to new Northwestern Medicine® research.

“If you have insomnia you won’t exercise yourself into sleep right away,” said lead study author Kelly Glazer Baron, PhD, a clinical psychologist and director of the behavioral sleep program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “It’s a long-term relationship. You have to keep at it and not get discouraged.”

This is the first long-term study to show aerobic exercise during the day does not result in improved sleep that same night when people have existing sleep problems. Most studies on the daily effects of exercise and sleep have been done with healthy sleepers.  The study also showed people exercise less following nights with worse sleep.

The study was published August 15 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Baron conducted the study with coauthor Kathryn Reid, PhD, research associate professor of neurology at Feinberg and senior author Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD, the Benjamin and Virginia T. Boshes Professor of Neurology at Feinberg and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"This new study shows exercise and sleep affect each other in both directions: regular long-term exercise is good for sleep, but poor sleep can also lead to less exercise. So in the end, sleep still trumps everything as far as health is concerned," Zee said.

Baron decided to analyze the daily effect of exercise after hearing her patients with insomnia complain the exercise she recommended didn’t help them right away. “The prevailing thought is that exercise improves sleep, but I thought it probably wasn’t that simple for people with insomnia,” reported Baron.

Why does it take time for exercise to impact sleep?

“Patients with insomnia have a heightened level of brain activity and it takes time to re-establish a more normal level that can facilitate sleep,” Zee said. “Rather than medications, which can induce sleep quickly, exercise may be a healthier way to improve sleep because it could address the underlying problem.”

The study participants were older women, who have the highest prevalence of insomnia. Exercise is an optimum approach to promote sleep in an older population because drugs can cause memory impairment and falls. Baron thinks the results also could apply to men because there is no evidence of gender differences in behavioral treatments for insomnia.

The key message is that people with sleep disturbances have to be persistent with exercise.

“People have to realize that even if they don’t want to exercise, that’s the time they need to dig in their heels and get themselves out there,” Baron said. “Write a note on your mirror that says ‘Just Do It!’ It will help in the long run.”

When patients undergo an acute myocardial infarction, lifestyle changes are necessary to reduce the risk of relapse.   Yet research shows that women and minority patients have a more difficult time with risk factor modification efforts.  A recent study published in the Journal of Women’s Health revealed that 93% of the patients examined had at least one of the five cardiac risk factors evaluated, and of that 93%, black female patients had the greatest risk factor burden of any other subgroup.

The study examined 2,369 patients who were hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction.  The cardiac risk factors evaluated were hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, diabetes, and obesity. These are well established and potentially manageable risk factors that, when mitigated properly, may decrease the development of coronary heart disease, adverse cardiac events, and even mortality.  Why, then, are 93% of patients showing at least one risk factor post-heart attack?

The answer may lie in the disparities in educating and discharging patients after an acute myocardial infarction episode.  For instance, the research revealed that black female patients were less likely than white patients to receive lipid-lowering medications and smoking-cessation counseling, and this is merely one example of the inconsistencies associated with patient care.  While this study postulates other possible reasons for the high number of at-risk patients, the purpose of the research is to help target intervention strategies to those groups most affected.  Improving post-AMI preventative strategies will decrease the risk of recurrent events while improving patient health outcomes.  Susan G. Kornstein, MD stated “These findings indicate missed opportunities for both prevention and management of cardiac risk factors, particularly for women and minority patients.”  Perhaps with this surfacing research, patient risk factors will no longer be a “missed opportunity,” but rather a preventative priority for clinicians across the globe.

Read more about this research study here.