Worriers more likely to get asthma

Worries are at a higher risk of developing asthma, a new study suggests. So are people who are going through a divorce or other relationship conflicts.

Studies on animals have shown that chronic stress alters hormone levels, which can inflame airways, making it difficult to breathe. Researchers believe that neurotic character traits may exert similar effects. So helping neurotic people to calm down or chill out could, theoretically, reduce their risk of asthma.

Dr Adrian Loerbroks from Heidelberg University, Germany, and his colleagues surveyed 5,114 men and women aged 40 to 65 years of age from the Heidelberg area to explore associations between neuroticism, stressful life events and asthma.

They noticed a link between asthma and unemployment in both sexes. Women who had broken off a life relationship were also associated with having asthma. According to the investigators, individuals who were highly neurotic were three times more likely to develop asthma than those who were less neurotic. Breaking off a life partnership more than doubled the risk of asthma development.

The link between high neuroticism and the development of asthma was present in women and men, whereas breaking off a life relationship increased the asthma risk only in women.

Unemployment and death of a close person were not significantly associated with the development of asthma, noted the researchers.

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