LARGE WAIST SIZE ABDOMINAL OBESITY USA WOMEN ASSOCIATED WITH ASTHMA
LARGE WAIST SIZE ABDOMINAL OBESITY USA WOMEN ASSOCIATED WITH ASTHMA
Women with a large waist size (abdominal obesity) are more likely to develop asthma even if they have a normal body weight, from research in Thorax online. Julie Von Behren and colleagues in California also confirmed a link between excess weight and asthma severity and prevalence.
GP doctors in the surgery clinic are concerned about obesity and asthma. Obesity is a risk factor for adult asthma, especially in women, but few studies have looked at the relationship between abdominal obesity and asthma. There are an estimated 5.4million people in the UK with asthma.
The researchers from California led by the Northern California Cancer Centre’s Berkeley team of scientists, used data from the California Teachers Study, which began in 1995.
The researchers analysed 88,304 women and found that 11,500 (13%) of them were obese in 1995, including 1,334 who were extremely obese. Compared with women of normal weight – body mass index (BMI) below 25 – women who were obese were more than twice as likely to have adult onset asthma, and extremely obese women were more than three times more likely to have asthma. Women who were obese and overweight were at greater risk of severe asthma attacks, shown by urgent medical visits and hospital admissions.
The researchers also found that women who were a normal weight but who had a large waistline, measuring more than 35 inches (88cm), were 37% more likely to develop the disease.
The authors said: “All measures of obesity were strongly associated with increased asthma prevalence. Even being modestly overweight was associated with higher asthma prevalence in this population.”
A large waist circumference was also associated with modestly increased asthma prevalence among women who were of normal weight based on BMI, they added.
The researchers conclude: “These findings are particularly troubling because a majority of American adults are now overweight or obese. The current prevalence of obesity in US adults is estimated at 32% and the prevalence of overweight and obesity combined is 66%.
“Abdominal obesity is increasing faster than overall obesity. According to an analysis of data from the 2003–4 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 61% of US women were abdominally obese based on waist circumference.”
Dr Martin Harris
Private GP in London Tel 020 8209 2401
www.surgerydoor.co.uk/professionals/private-gp/private-gp-directory/?ent...
Written by Dr Martin Harris, Doctor and Mohel for Jewish Circumcision Clinic in London Bris Mila Brit Milah.
www.circumcisionlondon.co.uk
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