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Archived Comments for: Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with asthma

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  1. Inflammation might underlie both asthma and ADD

    Carr Smith, University of North Carolina Department of Pathology

    9 September 2011

    Recently (BMC Psychiatry 2011, 11:128), Fasmer and colleagues reported that "Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with asthma." These findings are consistent with a growing body of literature that reports evidence of systemic inflammation in patients experiencing mental disorders. Previously, Masopust et al. (2011) showed that markers of thrombogenesis are activated in unmedicated patients with acute psychosis. Similarly, Drexhage et al. (2011) recently described a monocyte pro-inflammatory state in patients with bipolar disorder. The findings of these and other authors raise a very important question, "Is the pro-inflammatory state seen in mental disorders part of the pathogenesis and therefore a potential therapeutic target, or is the inflammation an association outside the causal pathway?" It should be noted that even if inflammation does not represent the primary cause of the mental disorder, dysregulated chronic inflammation has been shown to exacerbate a number of neurological conditions, most recently neuropathic pain (Shi XQ et al., 2011).

    Best Regards,
    Carr J. Smith, Ph.D.
    UNC Chapel Hill Pathology

    Drexhage RC, Hoogenboezem TH, Versnel MA, Berghout A, Nolen WA, Drexhage HA. The activation of monocyte and T cell networks in patients with bipolar disorder. Brain Behav Immun 2011, Aug;25(6): 1206-13.

    Fasmer OB, Halmoy A, Eagan TM, Oedegaard KJ, Haavik J. Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with asthma. BMC Psychiatry 2011, 11:128.

    Masopust J, Maly R, Andrys C, Valis M, Bazant J, Hosak L. Markers of thrombogenesis are activated in unmedicated patients with acute psychosis: a matched case control study. BMC Psychiatry 2011, 11:2.

    Shi XQ, Lim TK, Lee S, Zhao YQ, Zhang J. Statins alleviate experimental nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain. Pain 2011 May; 152(5): 1033-43.

    Competing interests

    None

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