(RxWiki News) Adults who develop late-onset asthma may face a raised risk of heart disease and stroke, a new study found.
Looking at 1,269 adults who were 47 years old on average, the researchers behind this new study found that those who developed late-onset asthma were 57 percent more likely than those without asthma to have a heart-related health event, such as a heart attack or stroke, during the study period.
Study participants who had late-onset asthma were also more likely to be women and have a higher body mass index (BMI), these researchers noted.
Late-onset asthma develops later in patients' lives than early-onset asthma and tends to be more severe and harder to control with medications, these researchers said. Late-onset asthma is often at least partially caused by environmental factors like air pollution, which has also been linked to heart disease, according to the study authors.
The study authors noted that patients who develop late-onset asthma may be able to help protect their hearts by keeping a healthy body weight, exercising and eating a healthy diet.
Talk to your doctor about how to stay heart-healthy.
This study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The National Institutes of Health funded this research. The authors disclosed no conflicts of interest.
