Rollercoaster asthma: when positive emotional stress interferes with dyspnea perception

Psychologists took 25 young women with asthma (plus 15 without) to ride rollercoasters again and again, measuring their breathing, heart rate and how breathless they felt before and after each ride.

Feeling short of breath peaked in the nervous moments before the ride, then dropped right after, even when their lungs were actually working a little less well. The thrill seemed to drown out the breathlessness — which tells doctors something important about how emotions colour our symptoms.