Obesity may lead to decreased lung function in premenopausal and postmenopausal women

Previous research has shown that despite less exposure to smog, women have more impaired lung function and a higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than men

Obesity has been shown to affect the risk of these obstructive airways and may lead to decreased lung function

Until now, little is known about the impact of obesity on COPD and asthma in premenopausal women

The researchers concluded that high BMI and waist circumference significantly increased the risk of COPD and asthma, regardless of menopausal status

The findings were published in "Risk Factors for Obstructive Airway Disease in Korean Women as Obesity and Abdominal Obesity: A National Population-Based Cohort Study

"This study highlights another deleterious effect of obesity and abdominal obesity in women and clearly states that women with a high BMI and/or waist circumference are at greater risk for COPD and asthma

Journal Reference :

1. Chung-Woo Lee, HyunJin Kim, Myung Ji Nam, Yeon Joo Choi, Kyungdo Han, Jin-Hyung Jung, Do-Hoon Kim, Joo-Hyun Park.