ABSTRACT
Asthma is one of the most prevalent of chronic diseases worldwide. It is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways associated with intermittent and reversible airway obstruction. Current thinking about the pathogenesis of asthma is that inflammatory processes in the airways result in a limitation of airflow and an increased responsiveness of the airways that causes them to narrow in reaction to certain stimuli ( 1 ). Allergens and respiratory infections are the primary contributors to airway inflammation. Allergens are also common triggers of airway constriction, but so are air pollution, cold air, exercise, odors, and certain respiratory infections. Clinical wisdom has long suggested that psychological stress and related emotional factors may also play an important part in promoting airway inflammation, airway constriction, and triggering symptoms (2). Indeed, asthma patients and the physicians who treat them often report that stress and emotional factors can initiate, trigger, or exacerbate asthma symptoms. Data to corroborate this assumption, however, are relatively scarce, and the clinical significance of psychological factors in asthma remains unclear (3).
