Heavy breathing—an obscure link in asthma and obesity
Friday, August 29th, 2008There is a strong link between obesity and asthma and as the prevalence of both conditions has been increasing steadily, epidemiologists have speculated that there is an underlying condition that connects the two. But one long-suspected link, the systemic inflammation associated with obesity, has been ruled out by a recent New Zealand study that found no evidence of its involvement.
“We were disappointed not to find a ‘smoking gun’ that would explain the common association between obesity and asthma,” said lead researcher, D. Robin Taylor, M.D., of the University of Otago in New Zealand. “However, this research points us to other possibilities that future research should examine.”
The results were reported in the first issue for September of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
