If you are suffering from asthma, there is every chance that watching a violent act or scene in the neighborhoods could enhance the chances of the person having to be hospitalized with breathing-related problems or any other emergencies, a new study has found.

The study, appearing in the September issue of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, studied about 400 adults with moderate to severe asthma who lived in an inner-city community and were followed for six months by the research team.

The team from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine found that more than one-fourth of the participants were previously exposed to violence and hence had a 50 percent more change of subsequent hospitalizations or visits to the emergency departments for asthma compared to those who had not been exposed to violence.

It was also noticed that the exposure to violence was associated with lower asthma-related quality of life and younger adults were found to be more likely victims of violence of making an emergency visit to the hospital.

The research team admitted that there was no clinching evidence on why the increased exposure to violence was impacting asthma, but they felt that it could be an indicator for physical or social conditions that contribute to asthma in the first place and later leads to the exacerbation of its symptoms.

They are suggesting that successful treatment and management of the disease was possible through managing conditions related to air pollution, proper housing and limited access to pharmacies.

Lead author Andrea J. Apter believes that the overall visits to the emergency departments showed an increase among patients who witnessed violence. There was also an overall spurt in hospitalizations; leading to the inference that exposure to violence could be associated with far reaching health effects that go well beyond the asthma condition.