CHICAGO (Reuters) - Carrying excess weight around the middle can impair
lung function, adding to a long list of health problems associated with belly
fat, French researchers said on Friday.
Abdominal obesity is already linked with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart
disease as part of a cluster of health problems known collectively as metabolic
syndrome.
Researchers have now shown that a large waist measurement is strongly associated
with decreased lung function, regardless of other complicating factors that
affect the lungs such as overall obesity and smoking.
The researchers analyzed health information about 120,000 people in France,
assessing demographic background, smoking history, alcohol consumption, as well
as lung function with respect to a measure of obesity known as body mass index,
waist circumference and other measures of metabolic health.
"We found a positive independent relationship between lung function impairment
and metabolic syndrome due mainly to abdominal obesity," Dr. Natalie Leone of
the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research wrote in the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The researchers defined abdominal obesity as having a waist circumference of
greater than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men.
Several large studies have linked poor lung function with higher rates of deaths
and hospitalization from heart disease, the researchers said.
While it was not clear from the study, the researchers think belly fat may
impair the way the diaphragm and chest function. Fat tissue is also known to
increase inflammation in the body, which may be playing a role, they said.
Although the reasons may not be clear, Dr. Paul Enright of the University of
Arizona said in a commentary there is now enough evidence to include waist
measurements as part of routine assessments of lung function.
"Abdominal obesity could then be highlighted on the printed report so that the
physician interpreting the report could take the effect of obesity into
account," Enright wrote.
Source : Thomson Reuters
