Reduced lung function linked to heart disease

Thursday 28 June 2007

Reduced lung function linked to cardiovascular disease by inflammation

People who have reduced lung capacity may have a greater risk of heart attack and stroke because they show evidence of systemic inflammation, according to a new University of Otago study.

The research, published in the leading international journal Thorax, comes out of the world-famous Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study, which has followed the health and progress of around 1,000 people born in 1972-73.

Measurements of lung capacity and blood inflammation were taken when study members were 26 and 32 years old.

The Otago researchers found higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker, in the blood of those with smaller lung capacities.

Study co-author Dr Bob Hancox says the findings provide important new clues about the link between poor lung function and cardiovascular disease and the role systemic inflammation may play.

“Increased levels of inflammation markers have previously been found in older people with reduced lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but as far as we know, this is the first time it has been reported in young adults without lung disease.

It has been suggested that the increased risk of cardiovascular disease may exist in older adults with COPD because inflammation is a risk factor for hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis. At this age however, the study members are very unlikely to have developed either of these conditions, he says.

“Our findings indicate that increased inflammation predates the development of either chronic lung disease or clinically significant atherosclerosis.

The researchers were able to rule out other explanations for the lower lung function and inflammation link, he says.

The association was not related to smoking or lung disease, because the relationship existed even in members who had never smoked and had no respiratory disease. Nor was it not explained by obesity, which is often associated with raised inflammatory markers, he says.

“It is difficult to establish whether inflammation leads to lower lung function or vice versa, but this research suggests the association between poor lung function and cardiovascular disease may be mediated by an inflammatory mechanism.”

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