Body weight and weight gain related to pulmonary function decline in adults: a six year follow up study.

Abstract

Background-Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, digestive diseases, and some cancers. Several studies have shown that excess weight or weight gain is related to pulmonary dysfunction, but this issue needs to be further clarified. Methods-The analysis was based on data of the Humboldt cohort study which was conducted in the town of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada. The baseline survey in 1977 included 1202 adults, comprising 94% of all residents aged 25-59 years. Of these, 709 (59%) were followed up in 1983. Pulmonary function (forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEVy) and maximal mid expiratory flow rate (MMFR)) and weight were measured in both surveys. Weight gain was determined by subtracting weight at baseline from weight at follow up. A residual analysis was used to examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) at baseline, weight gain, and pulmonary function decline. Results-Both BMI at baseline and weight gain were significantly related to pulmonary function at follow up. The effect of weight gain during the study period, however, was more prominent. The results showed that both mean residual FVC and FEV, were highest in the group that gained <10 kg, lowest in the group that gained > 4.0 kg, and intermediate in the group that gained 1-03-9 kg in both men and women after taking age, BMI at baseline, and smoking into account. The effect of weight gain on pulmonary function was greater in men than in women. Multiple regression analysis showed that each kilogram of weight gain was associated with an excess loss of 26 ml in FVC and 23 ml in FEV, in men, and 14 ml and 9 ml respectively in women.Conclusions-Weight gain is significantly The relationship between obesity or excess weight and health and longevity has been receiving increasing attention.' 2 Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that obesity might increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer, as well as other diseases including arthritis, gout, kidney stones, and gallbladder disease.' A number of clinical studies3-"3 have described the effects of obesity on lung function test variables including functional residual capacity and expiratory reserve volume; however, the studies on the relationship between obesity and airways function have given inconsistent results.Body weight and weight gain as risk factors for pulmonary dysfunction have not been well documented by population based studies. In a cross sectional study of data from 3046 children and adults (seven years and over), Schoenberg et aP4 found that pulmonary function initially increased as weight increased and then decreased as weight continued to increase. They considered that the increase of pulmonary function with weight may reflect increasing muscle force, and the decrease with further weight gain may be due to obesity which limits the mobility of the thoracic cage. 14

The effects of adiposity and weight change on forced expiratory volume decline in a longitudinal study of adults

“…1,5 ± 11 In the two studies with both men and women, signi®cantly higher effects were found in men. 5,7 Age and height may also be important factors in this relationship, as Bande and colleagues 10 showed that within their younger (mean age 20 y) and taller subjects, changes in weight tended to increase FVC and FEV 1 while the effect was reversed in older and shorter subjects. However, in the Normative Ageing Study, larger effects of weight gain on FVC decrease were found in younger subjects.…”

Longitudinal Change in FEV1 and FVC in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

“…In our cross-sectional study, an increase in BMI was also associated with a reduction in FEV 1 /FVC (4). Several longitudinal studies in able-bodied individuals have demonstrated an inverse relationship between BMI or weight gain and pulmonary function (27)(28)(29)(30). Lazarus and colleagues (31) found that both obesity itself and the pattern of body fat distribution had independent effects on ventilatory function, and a central pattern of fat distribution was associated with lower values of FEV 1 and FVC after adjusting for BMI.…”

Predictive Equations for Lung Function Based on a Large Occupational Population in North China

“…There are abundant data showing the relationship between weight (weight gain or weight loss) and lung function [15][16][17][18][19] . In principle, it seems logical to take changes in weight into account to predict various lung function indices.…”