Relationship Between Asthma & Heart Disease
At a conference on cardiovascular disease, epidemiology and prevention, the American Heart Association (AHA) announced the link between asthma and heart disease. Up until the conference, little had been researched on the connection between the two diseases. With new research, more can be done to prevent both asthma and heart disease.
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Background on Research
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According to the AHA, inhaling different air pollutants (including cigarette smoke and nitrogen dioxide) has been shown to cause an increase in heart disease. However, the results are not conclusive: "The American Heart Association had not issued any expert reviewed statement about the short-term and long-term effects of chronic exposure to different pollutants. This was due to flaws in research design and methodology of many pollution studies. During the last decade, however, epidemiological studies conducted worldwide have shown a consistent, increased risk for cardiovascular events, including heart and stroke deaths, in relation to short- and long-term exposure to present-day concentrations of pollution, especially particulate matter."
Nitrogen Dioxide and Asthma
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According the AHA, one of the pollutants that causes increased risk of both asthma and heart disease is nitrogen dioxide. NO2 is found in the ozone, but it is also found in higher levels indoors. "Mainly this occurs in settings where gas stoves and kerosene heaters are being used," says AHA. With increase exposure to NO2, people are at a high risk of heart disease--especially those with asthma. According to the AHA, asthma sufferers "appear to be especially vulnerable to the effects of acute NO2 exposure. Healthy people, by contrast, don't seem to show detectable changes in lung function."
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Asthma and Heart Disease, a Direct Link
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In his research, Carlos Iribarren, MD, of Kaiser Permanente, found that "nonsmoking patients with asthma had a risk 33 percent towards developing heart disease than a nonsmoking patients without asthma." Unfortunately with the new research, doctors are finding that the increased risk of heart disease in patients with asthma affects nonsmokers as well as smokers. Previous research focused more on smokers with asthma. According to BioMedicine, research started because of the similarities of asthma and heart disease--"both are a inflammatory disease."
The doctors and researchers at Kaiser Permanente believe that the link between asthma and heart disease could be because the severe lung inflammation that is caused by asthma could also cause damage to the heart and the arteries. Also, certain medications and steroids used to relieve an asthma attack could also cause deterioration of the heart.
Asthma, Heart Disease and the Medication
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In 2003, the BBC released a report linking a steroid inhaler to heart disease. Glucocorticoids, an anti-inflammatory steroid used to relieve an asthma attack, can increase the risk of heart disease. The study cited that increase could be as high as 70 percent. The higher dosage of the drugs used by the patient, the higher the increase of risk of heart disease.
On the reverse side, according to Harvard Medical School, asthma sufferers are sensitive to beta-blockers, a treatment in heart disease. By taking some beta-blockers a person can increase the chance in an asthma attack.
Prevention/Solution
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Although there is no cure for asthma, there are ways to prevent heart disease. Heart disease has many risk factors, and knowing them can help prevent the disease. According to the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, the risk of heart disease increases in smokers, diabetics, people with high blood pressure and/or high cholesterol, people with unhealthy weights, men over 45 and women over 55, heredity is also a factor.
To prevent heart disease, there are a number of things that can be done: quit smoking, exercise regularly, eat healthy, maintain a healthy weight, and keep cholesterol, blood pressure and triglycerides at a healthy level. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, so it is very important to get a physical regularly.
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