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This is the first study "to provide information on a link between asthma and PTSD and confirms the relationship between asthma and depression," Dr Renee Goodwin from Columbia University, New York told Reuters Health.

The results of earlier studies, in combination with the current study, "would seem to suggest that screening or considering the possibility that patients with asthma are a high-risk group for PTSD, depression, and other mental health issues may be warranted."

Goodwin and colleagues conducted a study with male twins who were Vietnam-era veterans to examine the association between PTSD symptoms and asthma. A total of 3 065 twin pairs who grew up together and had been assigned to active military duty were included in the final analysis.

The prevalence of asthma, at about 6 percent, was similar in the identical and fraternal twins, the authors report, and those with asthma were more likely to have a history of depression than were those without asthma.

Strong association between PTSD and asthma
PTSD symptoms were strongly associated with the prevalence of asthma, with a two-fold increase in asthma for twins with the most PTSD symptoms compared with twins with the least.

The odds that PTSD symptoms would be more common among those with asthma were again similar for identical and fraternal twins, the investigators report.

It seems conceivable from these findings that individuals who've had long-term and chronic environmental exposures that could lead to both asthma and PTSD (e.g. parental depression, childhood abuse, parental nicotine dependence/mental disorders for children) and also one-time intense exposures may be more vulnerable to both asthma and PTSD - although through different pathways and mechanisms, Goodwin suggested. - (Will Boggs, MD/Reuters Health)

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, November 15, 2007.

Read more:
War victims passed on PTSD
PTSD not just for war veterans
 

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