Asthma Increases Your Chance of Having A Heart Attack and A Stroke

Asthma Increases Your Chance of Having A Heart Attack and A Stroke

According to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association, adults with persistent asthma may be more likely to experience a heart attack or stroke as a result of excessive plaque buildup in the carotid arteries. Compared to those without asthma, participants in the research had increased plaque formation in their carotid arteries—large arteries on the left and right sides of the neck that supply blood to the brain.

The research revealed:-

67% of patients with chronic asthma and 49.5% of people with intermittent asthma had a carotid plaque. There were often two carotid plaques in those with chronic asthma, compared to one in people with intermittent asthma.

50.5% of the people who did not have asthma had a carotid plaque, with an average of one plaque.

Individuals with chronic asthma had approximately two times the likelihood of developing plaque in their carotid arteries than participants without asthma, even after controlling for age, sex, race, weight, other medical problems, prescription drug usage, and smoking.

Asthma is a respiratory disorder that makes it difficult to breathe by causing an individual's airways to become inflamed, frequently as a result of allergic responses. It is well recognized that chronic inflammation over time contributes to the development of arterial plaques known as atherosclerosis and is linked to an increased risk of plaque rupture, A stroke or heart attack might result from it.

For people with persistent asthma, addressing risk factors for cardiovascular disease may be really helpful, according to lead study author Matthew C. Assistant professor Tattersall, D.O., M.S., works at the medical school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Many medical both doctors and patients are unaware of artery harm sustained by asthmatic airway irritation, he said. Studies have shown that both the load and presence of carotid artery plaque can reliably predict future cardiovascular events.

The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study data were utilized to conduct this analysis, which looked at the possible relationship between carotid artery plaque and asthma. In six different American locations—Baltimore, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles County, California, Forsyth County, North Carolina, and St. Paul, Minnesota—MESA, a study of over 7,000 individuals, has been ongoing since 2000. All MESA patients were free of cardiovascular disease at the time of inclusion.

The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study data were utilized to conduct this analysis, which looked at the possible relationship between carotid artery plaque and asthma. MESA is a study The participant population is varied, with 26% of adults identifying as African American, 23% as Hispanic, and 12% as Chinese. In addition, there were 53% of female members of the group.

The cohort of participants in this research was divided into three groups: those with chronic asthma, those with intermittent asthma, and those without asthma. There were 109 participants in the subgroup with persistent asthma, which was defined as using daily controller medications to control asthma symptoms. There were 388 participants in the subgroup with intermittent asthma, which was defined as having a history of asthma but not using daily medications to control asthma symptoms.

All participants in the MESA study underwent an ultrasound of their left and right carotid arteries prior to the research's commencement in order to look for any carotid artery plaque. The number of plaques in the walls of both carotid arteries was determined by the total plaque score. At the beginning of the MESA study, blood levels of the inflammatory biomarkers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were also assessed.

According to this data, persons with chronic asthma are more likely to develop carotid plaques than those without, Tattersall said. Even if their asthma was being treated with medication, participants who had chronic asthma exhibited increased levels of inflammation in their blood, which emphasizes the inflammatory characteristics of asthma. We are aware that increased inflammation has harmful consequences on the cardiovascular system.

Inflammatory diseases including arthritis and lupus were listed as cardiovascular risk-enhancing variables in the American Heart Association's 2019 primary prevention of cardiovascular disease recommendations. This study advances knowledge of how inflammatory illnesses affect cardiovascular health.

The main takeaway from our research, according to Tattersall, is that more severe types of asthma are linked to increased cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events. Addressing cardiovascular risk factors via lifestyle and behavior modifications can be a useful preventive strategy for those with more severe forms of asthma.

The American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 guidelines, which include eating well, exercising, quitting smoking, getting enough sleep, keeping a healthy weight, and managing blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, can help anybody improve their cardiovascular health. According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease claims more lives annually in the United States than all types of cancer and chronic lower respiratory illness put together.

The primary drawback of the study was that it was observational since it was data analysis; hence, the results show an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship, between asthma and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Conclusion Highlights.

More than 5,000 adults' worth of data were analyzed, and the results suggested that those with persistent asthma may be more susceptible to heart attacks or strokes.

After adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, weight, other medical problems, prescription drug usage, and smoking, those with chronic asthma had nearly double the odds of having plaque in their carotid arteries as people without asthma.

Participants in the study who had chronic asthma also exhibited greater levels of inflammatory biomarkers than those who did not have asthma.