Hyperthyroidism complicating asthma treatment

Asthma is one of the most common chronic medical conditions. The usual trea tment includes quick relief bronchodilator medications of the sympathomimet ic class and controller medications that may include the long-acting inhale d bronchodilator salmeterol. Mild adverse cardiac and central nervous syste m effects are common with these medications, requiring modifications in dos e or occasionally switching to a different medication. Both asthma and thyr oid disease are common disorders that occasionally occur together. Hyperthy roidism may exacerbate asthma. Many symptoms of hyperthyroidism are identic al to the adverse effects of the commonly used inhaled bronchodilators and include tremor, nervousness, tachycardia, wide pulse pressure, palpitations , emotional lability, agitation, nightmares, aggressive behavior,and diarrh ea. In this report we describe a patient with hyperthyroidism whose symptom s initially were thought to be adverse effects of the inhaled bronchodilato r medications.