Ladies pay attention, it involves menopause! Research of the past showed that women in their mid-twenties could boost their lung capacity through good diet and a healthy lifestyle, and of course avoiding cigarettes. However, once you are past the thirties, lung function gradually declines.
A new study has come to light where researchers examined data on 1,438 women who were followed for 20 years, starting when they were between the ages of 25 and 48 years old.
Researchers conducted two major tests to assess shifts in lung function tied to menopause. These tests are known as the forced vital capacity test, a measure of lung size, and the forced expiratory volume test, which measure how much air can be pushed out of the lungs in one second.
The results showed that lung function declined faster during the transition to menopause and sped up further after the transition.
During the transition, women lost about 10ml of vital lung capacity per year, while women post-menopause lost 12ml a year. To explain more simply, post-menopausal women lost lung capacity equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 10 years.
The study was purely observational and does not prove menopause directly causes breathing problems. Both before and after menopause, though, the rate of decline in lung function is slow, and may only be significant in women with lung disease.
Read the full story from Star2 here.
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