Having asthma raises your risk of a HEART ATTACK and stroke, study suggests - Daily Mail

Asthma sufferers are at an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, scientists say.

Asthma leads to plaque build-up because of higher inflammation levels, raising the risk of damage to blood vessels leading to the formation of plaques.

Participants were divided into three groups: People with persistent asthma, defined as needing daily medication, intermittent asthma, who had a history of the condition but did not need medication, and no asthma.

Two-thirds of people with the most severe asthma had plaque in their carotid arteries, compared to half of those with moderate asthma and non-asthmatics.

After adjusting for age, sex, race, weight, other health conditions, prescription medication use and smoking, participants with persistent asthma had nearly twice as high odds of having plaque in their carotid arteries than those without asthma.

A total of 109 participants had persistent asthma — requiring daily medication — and 388 people had intermittent asthma — where they were diagnosed with the condition previously, but did not need daily medication and it may already be in remission.

Results showed among persistent asthma sufferers 67 per cent had plaques, with about two on average

Blood tests for inflammation also showed persistent asthma sufferers had higher levels of inflammation than those who did not have the condition

Based on the results, scientists warned that persistent asthma sufferers were more at risk from heart disease and stroke

Scientists undertook the study to determine whether asthma sufferers had more plaques in the carotid arteries