Obese have greater asthma risks

Obese people who have asthma are almost five times more likely to be hospitalised for the condition, compared to non-obese people with asthma, the results of a new study indicate.

Previous studies have indicated that obese people are more likely to suffer asthma than non-obese people and that obese patients often have more severe asthma. This is the first study to control for the risk factors that may have explained the obesity-asthma link, such as smoking, types of medication used and demographics.

A team of US researchers surveyed 1,113 patients who were aged 35 or older and who had persistent asthma. The participants were asked about a range of topics, including their weight, height, smoking habits, asthma control and asthma-related hospitalisations.

“The big finding here is that even after adjusting for risk factors, obese adults were nearly five times more likely to be hospitalised for their asthma. Given that so many people are obese, this study is yet another example of the long-term dangers of obesity, along with heart disease, diabetes, stroke and dementia,” said lead author, Dr David Mosen of the Kaiser Permanente Centre for Health Research.

The study found that obese people with asthma had significantly worse asthma control, a lower asthma-related quality of life and a 4.6 times higher risk for asthma-related hospitalisation than non-obese people with the condition.

It also found that obese people with asthma had a higher incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux disorder, the most common cause of indigestion in Ireland.

Gastro-oesophageal reflux, also known as acid reflux, occurs when stomach acid flows back into the oesophagus (the tube that brings food from the back of the mouth to the stomach). Symptoms can include heartburn, excessive belching and a sour and burning taste in the mouth if the acid reaches that far.

“The take home message of this study for clinicians is that obese people with asthma need to be followed more carefully because it’s harder to control their asthma, so they are more likely to end up in hospital,” said study co-author, Dr Michael Schatz.

He added that his advice for patients is to ‘be vigilant to keep your asthma symptoms in check, make sure you know what to do when your symptoms worsen and do whatever you can to lose weight’.

Details of this study are published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

For more on asthma, see our Asthma Clinic at…http://www.irishhealth.com/clin/asthma/index.html

[Posted: Thu 04/09/2008]