According to a new study, women working night shifts have a higher risk of asthma than women working during the day. The study, which included 2,74,541 people, has been published in ERJ Open Research. However, no link was found between day or night shifts and asthma in men.

The study found that women working only night shifts had a nearly 50 percent higher risk of moderate or severe asthma than women working day shifts. Dr. Robert Maidstone of the University of Manchester, UK, said, "The effect of asthma in women is more severe than in men. Women also have a higher rate of hospitalization and death from asthma." This is the first study to examine gender-based differences between shift work and asthma. Researchers found that 5.3 percent of people had asthma, of which 1.9 percent had moderate or severe asthma, meaning they were taking asthma medicines and inhalers.

The research did not explain why there is a link between night shifts and asthma, but researchers say it may be due to a disturbance in the body's body clock, which affects the levels of male and female hormones.

High levels of testosterone in men provide protection against asthma, which is lower in women. Apart from this, men and women work in different shifts, which may be a reason. Dr. Maidstone said, "HRT may protect against asthma in women working night shifts, but more research is needed for this."

The risk of asthma was found to be higher in postmenopausal women who were not taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The risk of asthma was twice as high in such women working night shifts as compared to those working during the day.

The researchers are now planning to find out if there is any link between sex hormones and shift work and asthma.

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