Asthma in Women: Lessons Learned from Clinical and Animal Studies

Seminar Title: Asthma in Women: Lessons Learned from Clinical and Animal Studies

Presenter: Dr. Patricia Silveyra, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington

Talk Summary: Asthma is a lung disease caused by exaggerated lung inflammation leading to airway obstruction and compromised airflow. Despite significant advances in its diagnosis and treatment, asthma continues to be a significant health problem affecting more than 300 million patients around the world. Epidemiological studies have indicated that starting around puberty and peaking during mid-life, women have an increased prevalence of asthma compared to men, and adult women have a higher rate of asthma exacerbations than men. The causes of these disparities remain unclear; however, studies have shown that sex-specific inflammatory mechanisms regulated by hormones contribute to differences in airway reactivity in response to allergens and environmental stimuli. My laboratory uses experimental models of allergic asthma to explore the contributions of sex hormones to inflammatory mechanisms. In this talk I will give an overview of the epidemiology of asthma across the life span and show re