Female Child Abuse Victims more likely to have Asthma in Adulthood

Experiencing abuse in childhood can put women at higher risk of developing asthma in adulthood, a new study says.

For the study, a team of researchers from the Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC), led by Patricia Coogan, analyzed 28,456 African-American women included in the Black Women's Health Study between 1995 and 2011.

All the participants filled questionnaires and provided details about the physical and sexual abuse they experienced in childhood, particularly before age 11 and between 12 and 18.

At the end of the study, researchers found an association between childhood abuse and onset of asthma in adulthood. Victims of childhood abuse were found at 20 percent higher risk of developing asthma in adulthood compared to women who didn't experience abuse in childhood.

Physical abuse before 11 years increased the asthma risk compared to sexual abuse. However, researchers couldn't find any such risks associated with experiencing abuse during adolescence, i.e.  between 12 and 18 years.

"This is the first prospective study to show an association between childhood abuse and adult-onset asthma," Coogan, said in a news release. "The results suggest that chronic stress contributes to asthma onset, even years later."

Experiencing stress in childhood can affect the immune system of the body and thus the airway development, researchers while explaining the mechanism behind the occurrence, said.

Findings of the study have been published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Asthma is the inflammation of the air passages, leading to narrowing of airways that carry air from the mouth and nose to the lungs. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, nearly 25 million Americans suffer from asthma and African-American are three times more likely to be hospitalized and die from asthma.  According to them, African-American women are 2.5 times more likely to die from asthma compared to Caucasian women.

National Child Abuse Statistics say that nearly 6 million children are abused across the country. According to the report, among industrialized nations, United States has a critical record of five children dying daily from child abuse. According to CDC, state and local agencies receive more than 3 million reports of child maltreatment each year, which means nearly 6 cases every minute.