Effects of allergic asthma and allergy on cardiovascular disease

Allergic asthma and other related allergies may be risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and medications used to treat asthma may also affect cardiovascular disease risk, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital repo.

"Many people think of asthma as a lung disease, but there are important links between asthma and cardiovascular disease, such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, e.

Shi and his co-authors, including Peter Libby, MD, a prominent cardiovascular medicine specialist, and Bruce Levy, MD, director of the Brigham Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, describe clinical studies showing asthma and coronary heart disease , aortic disease, peripheral arterial disease, stroke, heart failure and other cardiac complicatio.

"Observations from these studies suggest that, in addition to asthma, anaphylaxis is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disea.

“Asthma is an allergic airway disease in which type 2 inflammation plays a causative ro.

"Mast cells, eosinophils, inflammatory cytokines and immunoglobulin (Ig) E accumulate in the lungs of asthmatics, in injured hearts and blood vessels in patients with cardiovascular disea.

"In this review, we discuss how asthma and related allergic conditions contribute to the prevalence, incidence and progression of cardiovascular disease and vice ver.

important discovery

Both clinical and preclinical studies point to common mechanisms of CVD and asth.

• Inhaled albuterol (often used as a "rescue inhaler" for acute asthma attacks) appears to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disea.

  
  

• Oral and intravenous corticosteroids (eg, prednisone) appear to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but inhaled corticosteroids (eg, fluticasone propionate and budesonide) appear to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disea.

  
  

• Leukotriene modifiers, such as montelukast, have beneficial effects, reducing inflammation, lipid levels, and cardiovascular even.

  
  

• Results for anti-asthma antibodies such as omalizumab were mixed, with one study finding an increased risk, while others showed a reduced risk or no effect on cardiovascular disea.

  
  

Mast cells are a common type of white blood cell that are activated by circulating IgE in patients with asthma or allergi.

Shi and colleagues also noted that some cell types may play different roles in asthma and cardiovascular disea.

“Based on previous research, we can now ask: What are the next directions we need to pursue? What are the weak spots that we can focus on? By connecting basic and clinical research, we can start to see the bigger pictu.