Asthma may significantly raise heart attack risk

Asthma patients need to take extra care of their heart as researchers have found that the affliction, which requires daily medication, may raise the risk of a heart attack by 60 percent.

"Physicians should do all they can to control every other modifiable cardiovascular risk factor in patients with asthma," said study author Matthew Tattersall, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health in the US.

The multi-ethnic study involved 6,792 participants. Patients were of an average age of 62 and 47 percent of them were male.

After adjustment for heart disease risk factors, researchers found that people with asthma, who required daily medications were 60 percent more likely to have a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack, stroke or related condition during a 10-year follow-up than people without asthma.

Researchers found that asthma and heart disease are associated with increased levels of inflammation in the body.

The study was presented at the ongoing American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.