While many people with asthma also have allergies or their asthma is triggered by allergies, there is now a study proving that many of these people have asthma and allergies because they are either obese or overweight.
Dr. Jun Ma from Palo Alto Medical Research Institute in California conducted a study of 4,500 men and women in 2005-06 for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The Study Findings
The findings showed that two thirds of all people studied were either overweight or obese. Of these overweight or obese people, about 41 percent of them have allergies and 8 percent of them have asthma and of those who have asthma, it is related to their allergies.
While these findings are not in themselves high, the fact that out of the obese population which amounted to one third of the people in the study, 12 percent of them had asthma.
In addition, the people in the study also had a high incidence of Diabetes, which often occurs side by side with obesity or overweight people.
Scientists Still Not Sure Why
While these facts have linked the asthma and allergies to the obesity, the researchers and scientists still do not know why they are linked and some believe that it is related to Diabetes while others believe it is because the lungs become overweight just as the rest of the body does.
To stay healthy and limit risk of contracting asthma in the later years, maintaining a good and healthy body weight may be of help. Exercising and eating right can help with fighting obesity, however there are some who are prone to weight gain no matter what they do.
Source: Reuters
