If the menopausal transition is leaving you fatigued, it may be that your lungs aren’t working as well as they used to—because of menopause.
Background: Like so many things, lung function tends to decline with age—in both men and women. Researchers also know that sex hormones, including estrogens in women, play a role. Menopause is associated with more cases of new asthma as well. But the role that menopause, rather than age, plays in declining lung function in women is still being figured out.
Study: European researchers followed 1,438 women for 20 years. None were in menopause at the beginning of the study. By the end, most of them had begun or completed the menopausal transition.
Results: Both forced vital capacity (FVC), a measure of how big lungs are, and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), a measure of how much air can be expelled forcefully in one second, declined significantly in women during and after menopause. One hypothesis to explain the decline is that hormonal changes due to menopause can increase inflammation in the body, which can negatively affect the lungs. Menopause can also increase the risk for osteoporosis, which in turn can shrink the height of the chest vertebrae, limiting the amount of air a woman can breathe in at one time.
Shocking finding: The decline in FVC was comparable to the effect of smoking a pack a day for 10 years, and the decline in FEV1 was comparable to the effect of a pack a day for two years. Not surprisingly, for women who actually smoked, the declines were even more pronounced.
Bottom line: If you have more fatigue during and after the menopausal transition, it may be in part because of a decline in lung function. If you find you’re having new breathing problems, such as persistent cough (a possible sign of asthma), see your doctor. To keep your lungs healthy, the most important step is to not smoke, of course, and not to be overweight nor too skinny. And while regular aerobic exercise won’t actually make your lungs larger or stronger, it does help your body become more efficient at using oxygen—and that helps combat fatigue. (If you’re looking for a specific lung-strengthening exercise–not to mention, a fun one—consider taking up the harmonica.)
