According to the findings of a study carried out by researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, asthma and child abuse may be strongly linked.

The researchers studied the health and life accounts of children in Puerto Rico and found out that those who suffered any kind of physical or sexual abuse were more probable to develop asthma later in their lives, according to a report from The Boston Globe.

Asthma became almost epidemic over the past 20 years as scientists and medics had numerous theories about the cause of the chronic condition. After claiming that asthma can be caused by obesity, cockroach droppings or the way a house is built, researchers have reached another theory – the one presented in this article.

Actually, the study concluded that children who are sexually or physically abused are twice more liable to develop asthma during their teenage years than the other children. The immense stress caused by abuse in children and the following hormonal changes predispose them to the worst forms of the disease.

"It certainly seems biologically plausible, particularly considering that it's hard to think of any more stressful circumstance for a child than physical or sexual abuse, especially when that abuse comes from within the family," said Dr. John Heffner, former president of the American Thoracic Society.

The reason why researchers picked Puerto Rican children for the study is that they are more likely to develop asthma and die from complications than children in the United States. About 25% of Puerto Rican children have asthma. The study involved the questioning of nearly 1,200 children and their parents.

However, questions on why the number of asthma-suffering children is so high in Puerto Rico still remain unanswered because abused children represented only a small part of the 25%.