New research suggests patients with active asthma have a two-fold risk of having a heart attack.
The study's findings suggest those with inactive asthma do not have an increased risk of heart attack, but those whose condition is active have an elevated risk as high as 70 percent, Mayo Clinic reported.
"Lifesaving medications for acute heart attack and asthma attack are different; treatment for one potentially can make conditions worse or life-threatening for the other," said Dr. Young Juhn, senior author and Mayo Clinic pediatric and adolescent physician and clinical epidemiologist. "Asthma patients need to be aware of this potential issue and should have a care plan for symptoms for asthma or heart attack."
To make their findings the researchers compared 543 patients who had heart attacks with 543 non-heart attack patients; the average patient age was 67 years old and 44 percent were female. Out of the heart attack patients 81 had asthma, but only 44 of the cases were considered to be active asthma. The team controlled for other heart attack risk factors such as age, obesity, and smoking habits.
The results suggest patients with asthma and history of symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath should be carefully monitored for heart disease. The researchers also recommend physicians should educate their asthma patients on the importance of keeping asthma symptoms under control and sticking to their prescription regimens as closely as possible.
"Our study shows use of asthma medications to control asthma may not seem to be related to the risk of heart attack, so clinicians should make an effort to better control asthma of patients with active asthma using therapeutic and preventive interventions," Dr. Juhn said.
The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014.
