A recent study presented at an American Heart Association conference suggested that having asthma increases a person’s risk of heart disease by a third. The link between the two conditions, however, is not entirely clear.

“We know that asthma and heart disease have a variety of environmental, genetic, dietary and behavioral causes, but chronic inflammation (the immune system’s response to infection or irritation) plays an important role in both,” says Doylestown Hospital pulmonologist Pinak Acharya, MD. “However, we need to do more research to determine the cause of this inflammation.” In the meantime, patients with asthma should pay particular attention to managing cardiovascular risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.

Researchers are also studying how asthma treatment affects the heart. “We know that some asthma medications have cardiovascular side effects,” says Dr. Acharya, a member of Bucks County Medical Associates. “The best option for patients with asthma and heart disease is to be treated according to accepted guidelines by a physician trained in both heart and lung medicine who is aware of the long-term benefits and risks of asthma treatment.”

Asthma patients should stay vigilant about both their lung and heart health by regulating the dietary and environmental factors that they can control, such as eating healthfully, exercising regularly and reducing stress. This helps control asthma, and also reduces your risk for heart disease.