Obesity may worsen asthma symptoms

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*Obesity may worsen asthma symptoms*

Last Updated: 2008-01-04 14:38:19 -0400 (Reuters Health)

http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2008/01/04/eline/links/20080104elin001.html

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study shows that obese adults tend to

suffer more severe asthma symptoms than their normal-weight counterparts

-- suggesting that excess pounds exacerbate the lung condition.

A number of studies have found that obese people are at greater risk of

developing asthma, but whether weight affects asthma severity has been

unclear.

In the current study, researchers found that of more than 3,000 U.S.

adults with asthma, those who were obese tended to have more severe and

more persistent symptoms, as well as more missed workdays.

This remained true when the researchers accounted for a number of

health-related factors, including age, race, income and family history

of asthma.

The findings suggest that weight control should be a fundamental part of

asthma management, report the researchers, led by Dr. Holguin

of Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

in Atlanta.

The investigators report the results in the medical journal Thorax.

The study included 3,095 adults who were asked about their asthma

symptoms over the previous 5 years. One third of the participants were

obese.

The researchers found that compared with normal-weight adults, those who

were obese were 66 percent more likely to say they'd suffered continuous

symptoms over the past month, and 42 percent more likely to have

symptoms consistent with severe, persistent asthma.

Obese asthmatics also tended to need more medication and miss more days

from work.

The findings do not prove that obesity itself worsens asthma, according

to Holguin's team, and it's not yet clear why, from a biological

standpoint, excess weight would make asthma more severe.

" Obviously, not every adult with asthma who becomes obese develops more

severe disease, " the researchers note.

Still, they conclude, the evidence connecting obesity and asthma

severity is strong enough to have an impact on asthma management.

The researchers recommend that " asthma treatment guidelines should

aggressively pursue weight control as an integral part of their

treatment strategy. "

SOURCE: Thorax, January 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

*

Click here to read

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/utils/fref.fcgi?PrId=3051 & itool=Abstract-def\

& uid=18156567 & db=pubmed & url=http://thorax.bmjjournals.com/cgi/pmidlookup?view=lo\

ng & pmid=18156567>

Thorax. 2008 Jan;63(1):14-20.

*

Body mass index and asthma severity in the National Asthma Survey*

B, Mannino D, Brown C, Crocker D, Twum-Baah N, Holguin F.

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

BACKGROUND: The association between obesity and asthma severity remains

controversial and limited to small studies. METHODS: We determined the

association of body mass index (BMI) and asthma severity in the National

Asthma Survey. We included adults (age > or = 18 years) who

self-reported symptoms of asthma in the past 5 years. A total of 3095

patients were divided into the following BMI categories: 1080 (35%)

non-overweight (BMI < 25), 993 (32%) overweight (BMI > or = 25 and < 30)

and 1022 (33%) obese (BMI > or = 30). Asthma severity measures included

respiratory symptoms, healthcare utilisation, medication use, missed

work days and the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) severity

classification. Models were adjusted for: gender, race, age, education,

income, employment status, smoking status, family history of asthma,

state of residence and residence in a metropolitan statistical area.

RESULTS: Compared with non-overweight subjects, obese subjects with

asthma were more likely to report continuous symptoms (OR 1.66, 95% CI

1.09 to 2.54), miss more work days (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.81), use

short acting beta agonists (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.75), use inhaled

corticosteroids (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.79) and use any controller

medication according to GINA guidelines (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.85).

Also, obese respondents were less likely to be in asthma remission (OR

0.56, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.82) and were more likely to have severe

persistent asthma (GINA IV) (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.90). CONCLUSIONS:

In a large, diverse sample of adults with asthma, obesity was associated

with measures of asthma severity after adjusting for potential confounders.

Publication Types:

* Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

* Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

* Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

PMID: 18156567

*

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