Asthma and menstruation: the relationship between psychological and bronchial hyperreactivity.

The aim of this study was to investigate a possible interrelation between bronchial hyperreactivity and psychological hyperreactivity. In order to record changes in both bronchial and psychological reactions throughout the menstrual cycle, 10 women out-patients with moderate asthma were followed up for six months, and their physical and psychological status as well as their reactions to life-events and environmental influences were assessed through self-reporting measures and weekly psychotherapeutic sessions. Psychotherapy was used both as a supplement to the medical treatment and as a method of data collection. A relationship between lowered resistance to stress, lowered resistance to infections and increased bronchial hyperreactivity is suggested as background aetiological factors for the exacerbation of asthma around menstruation.