asthma trigger

Control stress, and also learn the signs of asthma so you don't assume it's "all in your head."

If you're the worrying kind, your lungs are at risk.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Neurotic behavior may be an asthma trigger that's been overlooked, finds a study published in a recent issue of the journal Allergy. The research, conducted in Germany, lends more support to the theory that stress can play a major factor in the disease.

THE DETAILS: The researchers asked 5,114 middle-aged adults to fill out questionnaires at two different times, eight to 11 years apart. During each survey, they were asked if they currently had asthma or had had it in the past, and they were asked questions related to emotional stress, for instance, whether they had lost a job, had broken off a relationship with parents or spouses, or had had a close friend or relative die. They also took personality surveys to measure their levels of neuroticism, a trait that can be exacerbated by stress and one that is associated with people who are prone to chronic worry, anxiety, and depression. Of the 3,572 adults who answered both surveys and were free of asthma when they took the first one, those who were on the high end of the neuroticism scale were three times more likely to develop asthma, and breaking off a relationship doubled a woman's risk, but not a man's. People who already had asthma at the start of the study were also more likely to have experienced unemployment; women who had asthma were also more likely to have broken off a relationship. And men, but not women, with asthma were also more likely to exhibit neurotic personality characteristics.

WHAT IT MEANS: Previous research has suggested that stress may be both an asthma trigger and a cause of the disease, and this study suggests that personality traits that are exacerbated by stress can also predispose you to asthma, even later in life. "Asthma is now considered to be largely a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, and many studies have linked stress and emotions to inflammatory processes," the study authors write, adding that neurotic people may find themselves experiencing greater levels of stress than others, and, therefore, also experience greater levels of inflammation.