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BOSTON -- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was associated with a 34% increased risk for asthma, regardless of body weight, Australian researchers reported here.

Survey data from more than 8,000 women revealed a higher prevalence of asthma in women who had PCOS compared with women who did not have PCOS (15.2% versus 10.6%, P=0.004), and this relationship persisted even after adjustments for weight, , of Monash University in Melbourne, and colleagues, reported at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.

"Weight in overweight and obese range was associated with asthma," Joham explained. "This may be related to the inflammation associated with both conditions."

"Even if we confirm the relationship in larger studies, I think what we really need to try and understand is ... what's causing it. It's about understanding the full impact of PCOS," Joham said. "Our hypothesis is that it's inflammation that ties all of this together."

In addition, Joham said that this research was important because it highlighted the diversity of the manifestations or the features of PCOS. "It was initially just thought to be a reproductive disorder, but now we understand the metabolic complications that come with this disorder, and the great implications for long-term health management and long-term cardiovascular risk modification."

Joham's group looked at participants from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) and randomly selected 8,612 women, ages 28 to 33. All of these women were enrolled in the national health insurance database. In total, six surveys were administered for the ALSWH, and the data for this study were extracted from the fourth survey.

Women who had asthma and PCOS also had higher average body mass index (BMI) compared with women who only had asthma (BMI 29.9 versus 27.7 kg/m², P<0.001). PCOS was reported by 5.8% (95% CI 5.3%-6.4%) of the participants.

The authors reported that within BMI categories, normal weight, overweight, and obese, there were no differences in the number of women who reported having asthma, type 2 diabetes, and PCOS, and women who had only asthma and type 2 diabetes.

After adjustments for age, BMI, and smoking status, the researchers found that women who had PCOS were still more likely to have asthma compared with women who did not have PCOS (OR 1.34, 95% 1.004-1.79, P=0.047).

Women who were overweight or obese had increased risk for asthma, after adjustments for PCOS (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.02-1.50, P=0.03, and OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.46-2.15, P<0.001).

According to Joham the strengths of the study included the large sample size of a young cohort, and that the sample was representative of the community. However, the self-reported data was a study limitation.

Joham also noted that, because the survey was roughly 100 questions and wasn't focused on asthma or PCOS, it didn't ask about frequency of asthma symptoms either. "But it's an ongoing study, so we could potentially ask some of those questions in the future," she said.

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