Individuals with a history of asthma from childhood may be at a greater risk of experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting and eventually heart failure in adulthood, researchers have warned. “Our results indicated that young adults with a history of asthma were at a significantly greater risk of increased left ventricular mass index, independent of other major heart disease risk factors,” said Lu Qi, Director of the Tulane University in Louisiana, US. The prevalence of asthma has been growing during the past decade with an estimated current prevalence of 8.6% in children and 7.4% in adults. Emerging evidence from epidemiological studies has shown that asthma in adulthood is associated with an increased risk of premature death, coronary heart disease and stroke. For the study, published in the journal JACC: Heart Failure, the team examined 1,118 patients, who answered a questionnaire on their asthma history.

Source: Hindustan Times June 27, 2017 14:48 UTC