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A recent study has established that obesity is strongly associated with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in non-smokers.
The research, conducted by the University of Toronto, was published in the Journal of Obesity.
COPD is a group of progressive lung disorders that make breathing difficult, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The most known risk factor for COPD is smoking, but a quarter of COPD patients have never smoked, researchers said.
"COPD is much more common among older women who never smoke and who are morbidly obese (with a body mass index of 40 or higher) than their normal-weight peers (13.4% versus 3.5%). Older, obese men who never smoked also had a much higher COPD prevalence than men who had never smoked and whose weight was normal (7.6% vs. 2.5%). %), "said the main author, Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson.
"Surprisingly, few studies have focused on never smoking in patients with COPD," said co-author Senyo Agbeyaka. "We wanted to fill this gap in the literature by looking at what factors are associated with COPD in non-smokers aged 50 and over," he added.
Co-author Lilia Fuller-Thomson said that in addition to obesity, older men and low-income people were associated with COPD in both men and women. In women, but not in men, height and level of education were negatively associated with COPD, but being married was associated with a higher likelihood of COPD.
"These findings underscore the importance for healthcare professionals to consistently screen for COPD in their older obese patients, even when they have no history of smoking," Fuller-Thomson said.
(This story has not been changed by Business Standard staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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