 3. Control of asthma and stress Emotional stress affects the appearance and development of asthma by acting directly on the pathogenic mechanisms of airways, since states of great psychological stress have been associated with impaired adrenal sympathetic system and adrenal-pituitary-hypothalamic axis APH. The argument that psychological stress influences the autonomic control of the airways is based primarily on the fact that many of the same autonomous mechanisms seem to play a role in asthma are involved in the activation and regulation of the physiological response to stress as chronic stress can alter the APH axis, cortisol secretion which is attenuated, leading to an increase in secretion of inflammatory cytokines. 