Asthma and Obesity: A Losing Combination

James Thompson, MD is How are you doing? Health Professional Board Certified Allergist and Internist I spend most of my time treating patients with asthma and allergic... Send Message Subscribe: James Thompson, MD

Wednesday, March 05, 2008
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Asthma and Childhood Obesity: A Losing Combination When parents come into my office with their asthmatic children, they often ask these questions: "If my child loses weight, will he breathe better?" "My child is having trouble in PE (Physical Education). Will you excuse...

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what about the thin patients?
neo
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 07:33 AM
what about the thin patients suffering asthma? who tried everything to gain more weight but failed? is that because of asthma?

re: what about the thin patients?
James Thompson, MD
Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 07:31 PM

Neo,

I have not come across studies looking at thin people with respect to asthma. The terms would have to be further defined. If we focus on people under the fifth percentile in weight, there may be other health concerns that are more important than asthma.

Asthma problems in a person that is under weight because of malnutrition may be better managed by addressing the cause of the poor nutrition. If one is simply of thinner build, I don't think difficult-to-control asthma is directly impacted by this.

I have not reviewed any studies that tie in asthma with the inability to gain weight, but any chronic illness which may be complicated by depression or anxiety, may possibly lead to some loss of weight. Furthermore, medications (theophylline, oral bronchodilators, hayfever drugs etc.) may sometimes have side effects that include nausea (and perhaps decreased appetite) and cause some weight loss.

I wonder how many others have experienced poor weight gain in the setting of asthma.

Thanks for your remarks,

J. Thompson, MD