Does the presence of asthma increase the incidence of coronary heart disease?
Richard Hubbard and Joe West Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Nottingham Correspondence: Richard Hubbard, Respiratory Medicine, Clinical Sciences Building, Nottingham City Hospital NG5 1PB, UK. E-mail: Richard.hubbard{at}nottingham.ac.uk’ + u + ‘@’ + d + ”//–> The prevalence of asthma has increased markedly over the last 50 years in many countries, and asthma is now a major cause of morbidity in all age groups.1 In the UK approximately one-third of children aged 12 14 years have symptoms suggestive of current asthma and 4% of these children have frequent night time wakening because of wheeze.2 The widespread introduction of inhaled corticosteroids and long acting beta-agonists has led to marked improvements in the morbidity attributable to asthma, and possibly also a decrease in mortality.3,4 As the asthma epidemic matures, however, there is a need to consider other features of the condition, and one aspect of particular interest to people with asthma is the
