A HYPOCHANDRIACS TALE

The NIMH trial was the first long-term follow-up study to assess asthma and panic. Roughly 600 randomly selected residents of Zurich, Switzerland, who were 19 years old at recruitment were followed for two decades.

Having asthma was linked to a 4.5-fold increase in the risk of developing panic disorder, a condition characterized by repeated, unexplained panic attacks. And people with panic disorder were six times as likely as people without the anxiety condition to develop asthma over the 20 year follow-up period.

The asthma link was much stronger among people who had panic disorder than in those who had infrequent panic attacks. Smokers and those with a family history of allergies were also at increased risk. Smoking is known to exacerbate both asthma and panic disorder.