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Rising Crisis of Asthma and Obesity -- Coincidence? /But the ANTI's tell us SHS is to blame!!!
Web MD ^ | Michael Smith , MD

Posted on 06/12/2002 4:46:50 PM PDT by SheLion

Two already common medical problems -- obesity and asthma -- continue to affect more children in the U.S., and the simultaneous rise may not be a fluke, according to a new study.

Previous medical research has implicated our growing waistlines as one cause behind the increasing problem of asthma. And now, researchers are getting closer to pinpointing the exact cause behind this link.

Harvard researcher Scott T. Weiss, MD, and colleagues studied more than 7,000 4- to 17-year-olds and looked at several factors that have previously been linked to asthma, including the children's weight.

They found that kids who were overweight were almost twice as likely to develop asthma as normal-weight kids.

But how does obesity actually cause asthma?

In people with asthma, wheezing and shortness of breath occurs when the airways in the lungs begin to close, becoming smaller and not allowing enough air to get down into the lungs. The airways may also become inflamed, which leads to mucus blocking the airways.

Although this will be the focus of future research, the researchers suggest that excess weight may put more stress and pressure on the airways in the lungs, thus causing them to close. In addition, it's possible, they say, that obesity increases the body's reaction to substances in the environment that cause asthma, thus leading to more mucus production.

The increasing problem of obesity in the U.S. is well known. And the list of medical problems linked to obesity continues to grow:

Heart disease -- through excess stress on the heart and high cholesterol

Arthritis -- especially of the knee, due to extra weight and wear and tear on the knees

Diabetes -- from inability of the hormone insulin to keep blood sugar levels down

Sleep apnea -- when breathing stops temporarily during sleep due to excess weight on airways

Asthma -- possibly from added pressure and increased inflammation on the airways.

It's unlikely that overweight people need another reason to shed some unwanted pounds, but studies such as this serve as a great reminder of how problems that are ignored might come back to haunt them in ways never imagined.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: antismokers; asthma; butts; cigarettes; individualliberty; niconazis; prohibitionists; secondhandsmoke; smokingbans; tobacco
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To: Great Dane
My guess is that houses/schools/business offices are all closed up all year round - heat in winter, air cond in summer. The vents are breeding grounds for mold, dust, mites and we are all breathing recirculated air. Heck, you can't even open a window in an office building anymore. They are all sealed up.
21 posted on 06/12/2002 8:59:41 PM PDT by 3catsanadog
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To: 3catsanadog
#21........ I know of which you speak, my husband is in the ventilation business, as soon as they sealed up the buildings, you got what is called, "Sick building syndrome."
22 posted on 06/12/2002 9:25:48 PM PDT by Great Dane
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To: 3catsanadog
#21........ I know of which you speak, my husband is in the ventilation business, as soon as they sealed up the buildings, you got what is called, "Sick building syndrome."
23 posted on 06/12/2002 9:26:10 PM PDT by Great Dane
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To: metesky
All good observations, but you're forgetting one thing; namely that just as our masters have redifined everything else, they've redifined obesity so that now an epidemic can be claimed.

Well, if previous definitions of obesity were in place now, the problem would be considered even worse.
24 posted on 06/12/2002 9:32:06 PM PDT by aruanan
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To: Great Dane
Allergies tend to run in families. There seems to be a hereditary link to a predisposition to allergies.

My mother's father died of a mastoid infection that followed an ear infection from allergies at age 23. My uncle had the allegies, my mother did not, but her 3 children did and their children all do, some worse than others. The breast fed children avoided allergies until teenaged, the bottle fed children developed allergic asthma as infants.

25 posted on 06/12/2002 10:05:47 PM PDT by Eva
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To: Great Dane
By the way, none of them were over weight.
26 posted on 06/12/2002 10:06:50 PM PDT by Eva
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To: Great Dane
A recent post said some scientists believe a too clean environment is the cause of an increase in asthma cases among children.
27 posted on 06/12/2002 10:11:10 PM PDT by LarryLied
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To: SheLion
"Two already common medical problems -- obesity and asthma -- continue to affect more children in the U.S., and the simultaneous rise may not be a fluke, according to a new study."

I had chronic asthma until I reached twenty one. I was never overweight or even close to it. If anything I was underwieght. I'm 49 now and I'm 5'6",140 lbs and have high blood pressure and high cholestrol. My brother by comparison is quite overweight and has never had any of those problems. Just who the heck are they studying?

By the way I'm very active to boot while my brother is not.

28 posted on 06/12/2002 10:27:34 PM PDT by blackbart.223
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To: Great Dane
"But you must remember the fat police is on the way, and all these same scare tactics worked sooooooooo well against smokers"

Yes, they're about to launch another PARIAH group! It gives them someone else to look down on and allows them to add taxes without public outcry. Here we go again. If someone wants to be obese, I say let them. Its a free county, isn't it? Whatever happened to "pursuit of happiness?" Perhaps sitting and watching tv while snacking on chips and soda makes them happy. Its their business.

29 posted on 06/13/2002 1:08:17 AM PDT by brat
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To: aruanan
OK, I guess the term "fat" is a bit subjective. If you're a few extra pounds but it doesn't slow you down in the least, then you're doing good.

And I know exactly what you mean about the really lean men that aren't very active. I know the type. Usually they smoke alot of cigarettes and drink alot of coffee. I think the cigarettes and the coffee have an effect on their weight and that's why they are so thin. One of my grandfathers was just like that, and he dropped dead from a heart attack before age 65. A good freind's dad was just like that too, and he dropped dead from a heart attack at age 49.

Tall, thin as a rail, dark complected, big hands and wide bony shoulders, big adams apple, leathery skin, chain smoker, guzzles coffee by the gallons...talks real slow in a deep voice, always wears a hat, and never moves fast. Kinda reminds you of a cowboy out of an old norman rockwell painting. That type always seems to die young.
30 posted on 06/13/2002 4:27:32 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: concerned about politics; editor-surveyor
editor-surveyor: Auto-immune diseases are usually due to self-hatred, or self-disatisfaction.

GovernmentShrinker: Would you care cite a (non-quack) source for this claim?

concerned about politics: I've read that under stress the immune system shuts down. No link. It was in a book.

A very late response to this (I just noticed it as I was skimming my post list for something else):

Auto-immune diseases are not diseases in which the immune system shuts down, in whole or in part. In fact they are the exact opposite. They are diseases in which the body's immune system turns on itself, attacking parts of the sufferer's body as if they were foreign invaders. Also, asthma (which is what editor-surveyor was referring to) is not an auto-immune disease. Rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and lupus are among the most common auto-immune diseases.

31 posted on 06/18/2002 7:44:26 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: GovernmentShrinker
"Also, asthma (which is what editor-surveyor was referring to) is not an auto-immune disease..."

Then the high-powered doctors that we took our daughter to have no clue?

They showed us the learned papers on the subject, and all of the evidence on asthma says auto-immune.

32 posted on 06/19/2002 2:38:44 PM PDT by editor-surveyor
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To: SheLion
But.........the ANTI'S blame our SECOND HAND SMOKE!!!!

It certainly didn't help me any. Surely you can admit that there can be more than one trigger. And you're surely not going to claim that SHS would have no effect on a kid already prone to athsma.

33 posted on 06/19/2002 2:42:54 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: Great Dane
But that begs the question........... why are there so many more cases of allergi's and asthma than ever before.

I've heard also that there's some evidence that good sanitation and vaccination may have something to do with it, too -- little lungs often don't see a series of little irritations to generate a resistance to athsma.

However, I also have to wonder if it simply has something to do with the huge population growth in the South. Plenty of allergens down there to kick off an attack.

34 posted on 06/19/2002 2:48:32 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: r9etb
And you're surely not going to claim that SHS would have no effect on a kid already prone to athsma.

If I had a child with asthma, I surely wouldn't take him anywhere that there was smoke.

But I understand that there are drugs today for kids with asthma, so they can participate in sports, etc, and to be able to handle every day life better.

I think this is great! :)

35 posted on 06/19/2002 2:53:36 PM PDT by SheLion
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To: SheLion
If I had a child with asthma, I surely wouldn't take him anywhere that there was smoke.

When I was in Houston I worked in a closed building where smoking was permitted. I needed my meds during the day, and as soon as I got home, too. Once the building went smoke-free, those problems went away. SHS is a nasty thing for those of us with breathing problems.

But I understand that there are drugs today for kids with asthma, so they can participate in sports, etc, and to be able to handle every day life better.

There are effective and easy-to-take inhalers that make life immeasurably better. In my son's case, at least, they also improve his behavior -- him acting hyper and mean is usually a good sugn that he's having breathing trouble.

36 posted on 06/19/2002 3:02:31 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: editor-surveyor
I think they said it was an immune disorder, not an autoimmune disorder. The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association website http://www.aarda.org/ lists 56 autoimmune diseases, but not asthma. The American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology website http://www.aaaai.org/ does not describe asthma as an autoimmune disorder. What I did find on a quick Google search was several "alternative medicine" sites, including some selling herbal remedies, etc., which referred to asthma as an autoimmune disorder. They apparently are not bothering to be precise with medical terminology (not surprising in the quack-ridden world of alternative medicine), and are not making a distinction between ordinary immune system disorders and autoimmune disorders. Other sites with references to asthma as an autoimmune disorder were personal websites and a couple of press releases describing legitimate medical research, but clearly written by and for non-medical professionals (i.e. the same journalist and PR types who refer to semi-automatic pistols as "machine guns"). Real doctors and medical researchers make a big distinction.

Re your assertion that "Auto-immune diseases are usually due to self-hatred, or self-disatisfaction" -- this is sheer nonsense. Neither ordinary immune disorders nor auto-immune disorders are caused by such factors. Asthma IS strongly correlated with obesity as you indicated (as are a laundry list of other ailments), and emotional factors inlcuding short-term anxiety such as about a test in school or an athletic contest, and presumably including things like "self-hatred or self-dissatisfaction" can trigger more frequent attacks of asthma in people who are already asthmatic, but have no known role in causing the underlying disorder. Negative emotions are known to SUPPRESS the immune system, but asthma, allergic reactions, and all the autoimmune disorders involve over-activity of the immune system, not under-activity.
37 posted on 06/19/2002 7:12:21 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: LarryLied
A recent post said some scientists believe a too clean environment is the cause of an increase in asthma cases among children.

That I can believe, most children live in such sanitized homes, their immune system has not battles to fight, so it just sits there and gets weak.

38 posted on 06/19/2002 7:40:09 PM PDT by Great Dane
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To: r9etb
However, I also have to wonder if it simply has something to do with the huge population growth in the South. Plenty of allergens down there to kick off an attack.

But we have the same kind of increases here in the north.

39 posted on 06/19/2002 7:43:16 PM PDT by Great Dane
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To: WillaJohns
Give those fat kids some cigarettes; that'll shed a few pounds off of them, guaranteed.

OMG...LOL!

40 posted on 06/19/2002 7:46:09 PM PDT by Born in a Rage
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