NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Asthma that begins inadulthood appears to increase the risk of heart disease and strokein women but not in men, according to a report in the AmericanJournal of Cardiology.

Adult-onset asthma, like other inflammatory diseases thatdisproportionately affect women such as rheumatoid arthritis andlupus, may be a relatively strong risk factor for heart disease andstroke, Dr. Stephen J. Onufrak from the US Department ofAgriculture, Stoneville, Mississippi told Reuters Health.

Onufrak and colleagues used data from the Atherosclerosis Riskin Communities study to examine the association of asthma with therisks of heart disease and stroke according to gender.

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