About one-third of all persons with asthma share this condition with another member of their immediate family. Asthma may be more likely to be passed to children from the mother than from the father.Both allergies and asthma are strongly associated with hereditary factors and they share certain genetic markers, but they are not always inherited together. Research, then, on the genetics of these conditions is confusing and difficult.

Kids who get eczema often have family members with hay fever, asthma, or other allergies. Some scientists think these children may be genetically predisposed to get eczema, which means characteristics have been passed on from parents through genes that make a child more likely to get it.

Evidence in adults comes from a large study of nearly 29,000 adults in rural China which reported adjusted ORs for wheezing and asthma for the group with occupational exposure to wood/hay smoke of 1.36 (1.14-1.61) and 1.27 (1.02-1.58), respectively (Xu et al., 1996). Since 93% of the sample used wood/hay for cooking, the relationship with asthma was studied among
the 39% of women and 21% of men exposed occupationally. Similarly elevated ORs were reported for those using coal for cooking.

During pregnancy, one-third of asthmatic women suffers more from the condition, one-third suffers less, and the other third experience no difference in severity. One interesting but unsubstantiated study suggests that expectant asthmatic mothers carrying a female baby tend to have more severe symptoms than do those who are bearing a male.

Some women who experience vaginal itching, burning and other symptoms after sex might be allergic to their partner's semen.According to new research, the extremely rare allergies to seminal fluid can cause symptoms ranging from simple irritation to anaphylactic shock.

While there are no reports of anyone dying from the condition, it's possible that someone could stop breathing just like people who die after being exposed to bee stings and peanuts, said Dr. David Resnick, an allergist and acting director of the division of allergy at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

An association between smoke exposure with chronic bronchitis (assessed by symptoms) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (assessed clinically and by spirometry) is well established, in particular among women. In line with findings for ETS, there is emerging evidence that exposure during pregnancy reduces birth weight, possibly mediated through carbon monoxide. Infant and perinatal mortality may also be increased.

Between 30% and 40% of women with asthma experience fluctuations in severity that are associated with their menstrual cycle. One study indicated that women with menstrually associated asthma tended to have the following characteristics:

• Were older.
• Had asthma for a long time.
• Had severe asthma attacks that were likely to occur three days before and four days into the menstrual period.

It is not uncommon to have trouble becoming pregnant or to experience infertility.There are many different reasons why a couple might have infertility.

Women with asthma, hay fever or eczema are no less fertile than their peers who don't suffer from these allergic conditions, UK researchers report. In fact, they may be slightly more likely to have children.Common problems with a woman's reproductive organs, like uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and pelvic inflammatory disease can worsen with age and also affect fertility. These conditions might cause the fallopian tubes to be blocked, so the egg can't travel through the tubes into the uterus.

Certain lifestyle choices also can have a negative effect on a woman's fertility, such as smoking,allergy, alcohol use, weighing much more or much less than an ideal body weight, a lot of strenuous exercise, and having an eating disorder

"This is an important finding for women with allergic disease and their clinicians," Dr. L. J. Tata of the University of Nottingham and colleagues write in their report, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

It has been noted that children with older siblings have a lower risk of asthma or other allergy-related diseases, the researchers note. One possible explanation for this relationship is that women with allergy-related conditions are less fertile and therefore less likely to have as many children, they add.

To investigate, the researchers compared fertility rates among 491,516 women 15-to-44 years old over a 10-year period. Thirteen percent had asthma, 14 percent had eczema and 12 percent had hay fever. Six percent had two of these conditions and 1 percent had all three.

Tata's group found no significant difference in fertility rates between women with and without asthma, although asthmatic women in their 20s were actually slightly more fertile than their non-asthmatic peers, the researchers found.

Women with hay fever or eczema were also more fertile than those without these conditions, while women with two or three allergic conditions were also slightly more fertile than women without allergy-related disease.

The reasons why allergic disease might promote fertility aren't clear, Tata and colleagues note; it's possible that the balance of certain cells in the immune system that are seen with these allergic conditions may somehow boost the likelihood of conception.

They conclude: "Our results provide reassuring evidence that the fertility rates of women with asthma, eczema, or hay fever are not lower than those of women in the general population."