Why does Asthma worsen during night? This study tells you reason behind it

A recent finding has revealed the reason behind the increased severity of asthma among patients of all age groups during the night. The research was carried out using the circadian clock method that includes hours of sleep and physical activities. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Oregon Health & Science University using the circadian clock have discovered the role of sleep and physical activity in asthmatic patients.

The study explains the worsening of asthma at night

According to a study report published in the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have tried to explain the mechanism that influences asthma severity. The Director of The Medical Chronobiology Programme in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at the Brigham, Dr Frank AJL Scheer said, "This is one of the first studies to carefully isolate the influence of the circadian system from the other factors that are behavioural and environmental, including sleep."

The co-author of the research, Steven A. Shea, after the research, claimed that, "We observed that those people who have the worst asthma, in general, are the ones who suffer from the greatest circadian-induced drops in pulmonary function at night, and also have the greatest changes induced by behaviors, including sleep. We also found that these results are clinically important because, when studied in the laboratory, symptom-driven bronchodilator inhaler use was as much as four times more common during the circadian night than during the day. "

The researchers observed that nearly 75% of people who have been diagnosed with asthma have reported the worsening of their condition during the night. Moreover, several other factors influence the severity of the diseases, including air temperature, moisture in the environment, exercise, posture, sleep environment, and daily activity.

Researcher's observation

Health experts have used the circadian system, which comprises a central pacemaker in the brain (the suprachiasmatic nucleus) and "clocks" throughout the body that is critical for the coordination of the body's functions. The circadian system is used to understand the daily cycling of environmental and behavioural demands. 17 participants were included in the research to explore the influence of the circadian system on sleep and other behavioural and environmental factors. The 17 asthmatic participants used bronchodilator inhalers but did not use any steroid medications. 

The participants were kept in a "constant routine" protocol, where they were kept awake for 38 hours in a constant posture. The participants were kept under dim light and were provided with the same snacks every two hours. Secondly, the participants were also kept under the " forced desynchrony" protocol, where they were kept on a 28-hour sleep/wake cycle for seven days under dim light.

(IMAGE: Representational Image/Shutterstock)
(With Inputs from ANI)