New Delhi, 16 June (IANS). According to a new study, women working in night shifts have a higher risk of asthma than women working during the day.
The study, which included 2,74,541 people, is published in the ERJ Open Research. However, there was no relation of asthma in men between day or night shifts.
The study found that the threat of moderate or severe asthma in women working only in the night shift was about 50 percent higher than women working in day shifts.
Dr. Robert Medestone of the University of Manchester, UK said, “Asthma in women is more serious than men. Women have asthma hospitalization and death rate is also higher.”
This is the first study that examined the gender -based difference between the work of the shift and asthma. Researchers found that 5.3 percent of people had asthma, of which 1.9 percent had moderate or severe asthma, ie they were taking asthma drugs and inhalers.
Research did not make it clear why there is a relationship between night shifts and asthma, but researchers say that this can be due to disturbances in the body’s body clock, affecting the levels of male and female hormones.
The high level of testosterone in men provides protection from asthma, which is low in women. In addition, men and women work in different shifts, which may be a reason.
Dr. Medstone said, “HRT can protect against asthma in women working in night shifts, but more research is needed.”
After menopause, the risk of asthma was found to be high in women who were not taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The risk of asthma in such women who shifted night shifts was doubled compared to the work in the day.
Researchers are now planning to find out whether sex hormones have any connection between work and asthma in shifts.
-IANS
MT/AS
