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Asthma linked to mental illness

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A study of more than 4,000 people has found asthmatics are at least twice as likely to suffer mental illness as the general community.

A study of more than 4,000 people has found asthmatics are at least twice as likely to suffer mental illness as the general community.Australia has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world.Doctors have always suspected a connection between asthma and mental illness, particularly anxiety disorders.But a conclusive link has been difficult to prove.A new study from the United States and Germany reveals people with asthma suffer mental illness at two to four times the rate of the general population.Beyond Blue Depression Institute professor Ian Hickie said: “This study is large enough and well designed enough to firmly establish the link between asthma – particularly common forms of anxiety – and depression.”Doctors went over the medical records of more than 4,000 people aged 18 to 65.They found those with severe asthma had nearly double the rate of anxiety disorders and were five times as likely to have panic attacks.The reasons for the increase are not clear.Doctors suspect having uncontrolled asthma can increase a patients anxiety levels.”Doctors need to take into account the fact that anxiety may influence the way they manage their asthma and recognising that will really achieve a better outcome,” respiratory physician Christine Jenkins said.Asthma medications can also mimic the symptoms of anxiety, such as breathlessness and tightness in the chest.Some asthma experts urge caution though, they say given that the study participants were aged up to 65, many of them may actually be suffering smoking-related lung disease and not asthma.”It would potentially weaken the association between asthma and psychiatric disease if there was misdiagnosis of asthma,” Greg King, from the Woolcock Institute for Medical Research, said.The study authors say their findings stress the need for asthma to be properly diagnosed and adequately controlled.(Source: ABC Online News December 2003)


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Posted On: 3 December, 2003
Modified On: 7 December, 2013

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