Obesity is the common lifestyle disease nowadays. A recent study found that weight loss reduces asthma severity as measured by airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in obese patients.

Severity of asthma in obese patients is 1.47 times higher when compared to non-obese patients. The researchers followed 22 obese participants with asthma aged 18 to 75 years with a BMI greater than 32.5 kg/m2. Sixteen participants followed a behavioural weight reduction program for three months, and six served as control subjects.

"While previous studies have examined the relationship between asthma severity and obesity, this study is unique because of its strict adherence to an accurate diagnostic criteria and study outcome (AHR), resulting in purer results to support weight loss as a strategy to normalise or reverse asthma in this group of people hit very hard by the condition," said Smita Pakhale from University of Ottawa in Canada.

"We were pleased to see significant improvement in asthma symptoms, as well as quality of life for these individuals. This study further supports the need to manage comorbidities to improve patient lives," said Pakhale, an alumna of Government Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra.

The study appeared in the journal CHEST.

By Lizitha