title: Hormonal factors and incident asthma and allergic rhinitis during puberty in girls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Accumulating evidence is indicating that hormonal factors play a role in new-onset allergic rhinitis and asthma after puberty.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether age at menarche and use of hormonal contraceptives predict new-onset allergic rhinitis and asthma after puberty in young German women.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective community-based cohort study followed 1,191 girls 9 to 11 years old to early adulthood (19-24 years old). Self-administrated questionnaires concerning age at menarche, use of hormonal contraceptives, and status and age at onset of physician-diagnosed allergic rhinitis and asthma were collected at 16 to 18 and 19 to 24 years of age. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the incidence of asthma and allergic rhinitis after puberty and pooled estimates were obtained from the final model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven percent of girls developed allergic rhinitis after menarche and 3% reported new-onset asthma. Late menarche (>13 years of age) was statistically significantly inversely related to allergic rhinitis (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.14-0.74) but did not reach the level of statistical significance for asthma (OR 0.32, 95% CI 0.07-1.42). Use of hormonal contraceptives was inversely associated with new-onset allergic rhinitis (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.08-0.23) and asthma (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.12-0.58) after puberty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that girls with late onset of menarche are less likely to develop allergic rhinitis after puberty compared with those who have menarche at an average age. These findings also suggest that, in addition to endogenous hormones, hormonal contraceptives play a role and might protect young women from allergies and asthma.
authors.affiliation: Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology & Net Teaching Unit, Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Junxiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology & Net Teaching Unit, Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany. Electronic address: jessica.gerlich@med.lmu.de.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gerlich
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Genuneit
authors.affiliation: Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology & Net Teaching Unit, Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vogelberg
authors.affiliation: Dr v Haunersches Kinderspital, University Hospital Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: von Mutius
authors.affiliation: Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology & Net Teaching Unit, Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Radon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008572:Menarche; D018448:Models, Immunological; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003278:Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones