Obese people likelier to report exercise as trigger for asthma: Study

Washington, Dec 23 (ANI): A new study has found that obese people are likelier to report exercise as the trigger for asthma.

"Compared with normal-weight participants, patients who were overweight or obese were more likely to report ETA (exercise-induced asthma)," said Simon Bacon, a professor at the Concordia Department of Exercise Science and a researcher at the Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal.

"We also found that for every one-point increase in body mass index score was associated with a 9 percent increase in the probability of reporting exercise-induced asthma," he added.

The study participants had experienced intermittent as well as mild, moderate and severe persistent asthma.

"Exercise-induced asthma may lead to a sedentary lifestyle, increased weight and can fuel a downward spiral to worsened health," said Bacon.

"Given the importance of exercise and regular physical activity in weight management, greater care should be taken when working with asthma patients to refer them to appropriate weight management specialists to help them control and safely reduce their weight."

The findings are published in the journal The Physician and Sportsmedicine. (ANI)