Are you suddenly aware that you know more people who carry asthma inhalers? Have you noticed that more people in your circle of friends have recently been diagnosed with asthma? Experts have proven that “The prevalence of asthma is rising, particularly among children.” Some of the reasons for the rise in this trend, like pollen and pollution can be seen with the naked eye, but asthmatics also have an invisible enemy.

The Asthmatic’s Invisible Enemy

Yes, there is another reason for a higher incidence of patients, as well as for a higher number of attacks on diagnosed patients: Stress. It is the unseen enemy of the asthmatic. No one could deny the increasing stress of modern life, and stress is an asthma “trigger.”

The uncomfortable alliance between stress and asthma was explored in a recent study, based on two major factors:

1. Immune System Health: “There is some evidence that chronic stress can alter the immune system through chronic elevations in circulating levels of cortisol and catecholamines, which are associated with asthma.”

2. Mental Health and Chronic Disease: “As in many chronic diseases, asthma interacts importantly with mental health. Adults with asthma have worse life satisfaction and higher neuroticism scores than do persons without asthma.”

In Your Head Or Your Chest?

Scientists have reported, “It is well known that anxiety can exacerbate asthma symptoms,” but the new studies demonstrate that the link might be even stronger than we realize. We have made great progress over the old days, when patients with stress-induced asthma attacks might have been told that their condition was “all in their head.”

Now we know better; stress can at least trigger an asthma attack. It has been proven that “stress and anxiety can actually make your asthma symptoms worse.” Asthma is not in your head; it’s in your chest. To consider stress to be a trigger or a factor seems to be acceptable to science at this point, but to consider it a cause was quite another challenge.

Symptom or Cause: A Recent Study

Knowing these factors, scientists set up a special study of the vicious cycle of stress -to- asthma, -to anxiety about health -to asthma, and back again.

The Data: The test group of 5648 people answered survey questions about how severely and how often stress affected their lives. “Stress levels were considered to be high among 9% of women and 6% of men in the study.”

The facts and figures were assembled to see how the scores on these tests coordinated with the number of severe asthma attacks they suffered.

The Significant Results: The most dramatic result was that “during 10 years of follow-up, 252 participants developed asthma.”

Although the study could not prove stress caused asthma, it affirmed that here was a clear alliance between stress and incident asthma attacks. When researchers compared the high stress patients with those who showed low levels of stress, the higher stress patients showed more incidences of asthma attacks.

The Conclusions:

There is certainly room for more study, and perhaps investigation into new preventative treatments in this area. Perhaps by reducing the stress in our daily lives we can also reduce the frequency and severity of asthma attacks. How can we do this, and still enjoy the high paced benefits of modern life and business? Try these suggestions from doctors in the UK:

Time Management 101

They also advise us to study ways to manage our time well, so that we can schedule unpleasant tasks. Time management mandates:

1.  Make your “to do” lists, including unpleasant tasks.
2. Stay on schedule.
3. Accomplish the tasks.
4. Check them off your “to do” list, and return to pursuits that are more fulfilling, or even fun!

Make Time For Me:

The experts who deal with stress and asthma say, “It is easier said than done, but everyone needs time to recharge their batteries, and creating ‘me time’ is a simple way to reduce your stress levels.”

“A long bath, or a walk in the park are great ways to de-stress.” The Florida Lung Doctors agree, and we highly recommend our beautiful Orlando for its many walkways.

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