Allergy history associated with greater risk for coronary heart disease, hypertension
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Adults with a history of allergic disorders faced an increased risk for hypertension and coronary heart disease, according to a study presented at ACC Asia Together with the Korean Society of Cardiology Spring Conference.
“We have cardiologists and dermatologists, focusing on inflammatory skin diseases, in our team,” Yang Guo, PhD, postdoctoral researcher with the department of dermatology at the Institute of Dermatology at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital and Shenzhen Peking University-The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, told Healio.
“We discussed the risk [for] cardiovascular disease (CVD) among patients with inflammatory skin disease, which is an important allergy disease. Further, recent studies suggest an association between allergic disorders and CVDs. However, the findings remain controversial. Then we conducted this study,” Guo said.
The researchers used the cross-sectional National Health Interview Survey conducted in 2012 in the U.S. to evaluate data of 34,417 adults (mean age, 48.5 years; 55.8% women).
Overall, 29.2% of the survey respondents had at least one allergic disorder such as asthma, respiratory allergy, digestive allergy, skin allergy or other allergies.
The researchers adjusted their analyses for age, sex, race, smoking, alcohol consumption and BMI, and they stratified subgroups based on demographic factors.
The participants who had a history of allergic disorders demonstrated higher odds for hypertension (OR = 1.45; 95% CI, 1.35-1.56) and for coronary heart disease (OR = 1.48; 95% CI, 1.29-1.7).
Specifically, participants between age 18 and 57 years with a history of allergic disorders had higher risk for hypertension. The association between allergic disorders and coronary heart disease appeared greater among participants aged 39 to 57 years, men and Black/African Americans .
Of the allergic disorders analyzed, asthma contributed most to risks for hypertension (OR = 1.64; 95% CI, 1.42-1.89) and coronary heart disease (OR = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.1-1.83).
“For patients with allergic disorders, especially asthma, proper evaluation for CVDs should be added, including routine evaluation of blood pressure and routine examination for coronary heart disease,” Guo said.
“Further large cohort studies with long-term follow-up are needed to confirm our findings,” Guo said. “Additionally, appreciating the underlying mechanism may help future management in such individuals.”
For more information:
Yang Guo, PhD, can be reached at yangguoanny@163.com.
Perspective
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CVD is an inflammatory disease, so it is not surprising that inflammatory conditions like allergies contribute to it. The findings of this study are significant as they add to the body of evidence linking inflammatory conditions and CVD.
My experience is in reducing allergies and sick leave through better design and operation of indoor environments. Studies show a link between inflammatory microparticles in the indoor air and frequency of allergic responses.
We should use environmental health rather than just drugs to solve these problems by focusing on environmental triggers of inflammation. Doctors could ask patients to monitor the air quality where they spend 85% of their lives —indoors. They could test their patients for toxic metals that studies find are triggering CVD. Patients with severe CVD improve when those metals are removed.
Allergies and CVD are driven by the immune system backfiring when it responds to its environment. Research could further investigate the environmental factors common to allergies and CVD, like particulate pollution and heavy metal contamination. This is based on the rapidly expanding field of epigenetics.
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Guo Y, et al. Increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adults with allergic disorders: A population-based study. Presented at: ACC Asia 2022 Together with Korean Society of Cardiology Spring Conference; April 15-16, 2022; Gyeongiu, South Korea.
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