Abstract

Some studies have suggested that asthma may be a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke, particularly in women. Child and adult-onset asthma differ according to inflammatory characteristics and gender distribution. We examined whether childhood-onset and adult-onset asthma were associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in men and women in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. In unadjusted analyses, the weighted mean far wall IMT thickness for women with history of adult-onset asthma was significantly greater than that of women without history of asthma (0.731 mm versus 0.681 mm; p<0.0001) while IMT for women with history of childhood-onset asthma (IMT=0.684 mm) did not differ substantially from non-asthmatic women. Mean IMT did not differ significantly according to asthma history among men. When the data were fitted to a linear model, the interaction between asthma status and gender was significant (p=0.006). After adjusting for age, race, BMI, smoking status, smoking pack years, diabetes, hypertension, physical activity, education level, and high and low density lipoprotein levels, the mean IMT difference between women with adult-onset asthma and no history of asthma was attenuated but remained significant (0.713 mm versus 0.687 mm, p=0.008). In conclusion, adult-onset asthma but not child-onset asthma is associated with increased carotid atherosclerosis among women but not among men.