Smart Woman: Shadow Diseases
By: Lane Stone & Nathan Hale
Updated: July 12, 2010
There are diseases that seem to follow one another like a shadow.
A serious case of psoriasis could double your risk of heart attack. Some other shadow diseases -- asthma and mental problems. Those with the breathing problem are more than twice as likely to suffer depression or anxiety. Migraines are also followed by other conditions.
Those who get one migraine a month are 50% more likely to have a heart attack. Weekly migraines triple your risk of stroke.
And those with three of the five markers of metabolic syndrome--a disease that affects 47 million Americans--are 70% more likely to get kidney stones.
A recent study of women shows hypertension doubles your diabetes risk, regardless of your body mass index.
