Is poorly-controlled asthma linked to future heart disease? A new research study aims to answer this question while embracing the complexity of asthma, which takes a range of forms depending on age at which it begins, severity, race and gender, and the level of accompanying inflammation.

Matthew Tattersall, DO, MS, assistant professor (CHS), Cardiovascular Medicine, was selected for a Summer 2018 Career Development Award from the American Heart Association for a project entitled, "Asthma Phenotypes and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)."

The grant provides $231,000 over three years.

The investigation will use ultrasound to measure injury to the carotid artery that occurs as a precursor of cardiovascular disease. "We plan to precisely characterize the link between asthma, asthma phenotypes, and asthma control with CVD using non-invasive ultrasonographic measures of arterial injury, the antecedent to CVD," wrote Dr. Tattersall.

Researchers will correlate the arterial injury data with markers of inflammation, whether asthma is under control or severe, age, race, and sex.

The study will recruit volunteers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison site of the Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP) and the Childhood Origins of Asthma (COAST) program, along with an equal number of volunteers without asthma who participate in the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW) program.

Resources:

• "Late-onset asthma and cardiovascular disease risks," Department of Medicine, June 21, 2017