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COPD, one in seven elderly women who have never smoked and who is morbidly obese
"Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is much more common in older women who never smoke and who are morbidly obese (with a body mass index of 40 or higher) than in their normal-weight peers (13.4%). versus 3.5%, respectively) Older men with morbid obesity who never smoked also had a much higher prevalence of COPD than men who never smoked and whose weight was normal (7.6% vs. 2.5%), "said lead author, Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sandra Rotman's chair at the university. from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work in Toronto and the Department of Family and Community and Director of the Institute for Life Course & Aging.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is the third leading cause of death in the United States. 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.
"Surprisingly, few studies have been devoted to never smoking in patients with COPD," said Senyo Agbeyaka, a recent co-author of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. University of Toronto. "We wanted to fill this gap in the literature by examining the associated factors with COPD in non-smokers aged 50 and over."
"In addition to obesity, men and women were associated with COPD in the elderly and low-income groups.In women, but not men, size and level of education were associated negatively to COPD, but being married was associated with a higher likelihood of COPD. " Co-author reported Lilia Fuller-Thomson.
The study was based on a nationally representative sample of non-Hispanic white respondents aged 50 and over who reported never having smoked. The data are from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System of the Center for Disease Control, 2012. The final sample included over 110,000 respondents, of which approximately 4,000 were morbidly obese and 5,000 reported being diagnosed with a health professional with COPD. The article was published this week in the Diary of obesity.
"Unfortunately, the survey did not allow us to identify why obese older Americans who had never smoked had such a high prevalence of COPD.Future research is needed to investigate the plausible mechanisms of this association, including the role of chronic inflammation associated with obesity and the impact of central obesity on the mechanics of respiratory systems, "said co-author, Kaitlyn Howden, a candidate for medicine at McMaster University.
"These findings highlight the importance for healthcare professionals to routinely screen for COPD in their older obese patients, even when they do not have a history of smoking," suggested the professor. Esme Fuller-Thomson.
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