Weight loss programs

Whip out that handy list I’ve been slowly adding to over the past 2 years, I officially just found another reason to tack onto it for why to avoid obesity at all costs. How about this, obesity makes it even harder to breathe! That’s right friends and countrymen/women, new studies are definitively showing that asthma takes a much tougher toll on the obese than on those of normal weight.

The study was a large scaled study that took place in Atlanta, Georgia, and the results were, while not shocking, very important. They found that, “out of more than 3,000 patients with asthma, obese patients were 66 percent more likely to report continuous symptoms, 36 percent more likely to miss more days of work and 52 percent more likely to be classified as having either moderate or severe persistent asthma when compared to non-overweight people.” Wow. What makes the results even more dangerous, is the fact that the findings held true after the researchers adjusted for factors including gender, race, age, smoking status, and family history of asthma.

So what have we learned? Extra weight equals extra breathing problems if you’ve ever even had a twinge of asthma. While the exact, definitive link between asthma and obesity is still unclear, and still being sought after, it’s clear a link does exist. Some believe that the link could be because asthma can lead to reduced physical activity, which then leads to weight gain; could it be that weight gain leads to asthma, which then leads back to reduced physical activity which then promotes more weight gain?