Researchers said that child abuse and the development of asthma are directly linked. The recent study carried out at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that childhood abuse increases chances of the person developing asthma.

The researchers studied 1,200 children from Puerto Rico many of whom regularly endured physical or sexual abuse. They found 20 % of the children, who regularly endured physical or sexual abuse also suffered from asthma, while 11.5 % of the children were not abused but had developed asthma.

This led the researchers to conclude that children who are physically or sexually abused are twice as likely to suffer from asthma when they grow as compared to the children who are not maltreated.

This could be related to a depletion of a hormone called cortisol, a corticosteroid hormone often referred to as the "stress hormone "whose function is to reduce inflammation. This hormone is often depleted in children who face abuse and as a result it could trigger asthma and other type of inflammations.

The study did find childhood abuse being the most important factor in the development of asthma even more than the family’s social status. 25 % Puerto Rican children develop childhood asthma white non Hispanic children have a 13 % chance of diagnosis while black children have a 16 % chance. The reason, feel the researchers, could be due to the stressful environment and traumatic events that the children have to deal with during their childhood.

An earlier study had found boys to be more likely than girls to shed asthma as they reach their adolescence despite boys being more predisposed to asthma than girls.