A new study is suggesting that estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may not only lead to , but also an asthmatic condition in post-menopausal women.

According to findings published in the journal Thorax, HRT may increase the risk of women developing asthma after they go through menopause. Researchers followed 57,664 women for three years and questioned them about their asthma symptoms.

It was found that between this time period, a total of 569 women were diagnosed with the disease, which resulted in a 1.15 case prevalence per 1000 women every year. Compared with the women who did not have HRT, women who had the treatment were 21 percent more likely to develop the breathing problem.

There was also an increase of asthma in women who used a combination of estrogen and progesterone HRT and were nonsmokers.

Researchers determined that this risk could possibly shed more light on the dangers of this kind of therapy, which could ultimately lead physicians to use another method of treatment for post-menopausal women.