Report: Obesity worsens asthma
By HME News Staff
Updated Sat May 31, 2008
WELLINGTON, New Zealand--Obesity can worsen the impact of asthma and mask its severity, according to researchers in New Zealand. The researchers studied lung function in asthmatic women with a range of body mass indexes and reported their findings in the May issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society. The researchers established a direct link between obesity and the development of a phenomenon known as “dynamic hyperinflation,” when air breathed into the lungs cannot be exhaled. Researchers found that with increasing BMI, functional residual capacity was higher and inspiratory capacity was lower.
Comments