Oamenii obezi şi supraponderali sunt cu 50% mai expuşi spre a face astm decât deci cu greutate normală. Astfel, pierderea în greutate ar putea reduce nuărul cazurilor de astm.

Medicii americani de la Centrul de Cercetare din Denver au sugerat că la copii,


In children, where the incidence of asthma is five times higher than in adults, the researchers suggested that even small weight reductions could have a big impact in reducing the number of new asthma diagnoses.

Sutherland said the study gives another reason to develop effective treatments for excess weight, which can cause diabetes, high blood pressure and certain cancers.

The researchers looked at seven studies on severe asthma involving 333,102 patients.

People in the studies either had a doctor's diagnosis of asthma or were taking asthma medication.

They were considered normal weight if their body mass index -- a measure of weight in kilograms divided by height in meters -- was below 25. People with a BMI measurement of 25 to 29.9 were considered overweight and people with a BMI of 30 or above were considered obese.

The researchers said that obesity has been known to cause impairments in lung function, even among people who do not have asthma. As a result, some of the overweight and obese patients who said they had asthma may instead have been suffering from reduced lung volume and chest wall restriction associated with their weight, Sutherland said.