Obesity and asthma: A focused review

Abstract

Asthma and obesity are common chronic conditions. Obese individuals tend to manifest asthma that is more severe and refractory to conventional treatment, leading many to consider “obesity-associated asthma” a unique asthma phenotype that warrants specialized therapy [1–3]. More than half of Americans are projected to be obese by 2030, and physicians who treat asthma will become increasingly confronted with this comorbidity [4]. In this review, we describe the epidemiology of obesity-associated asthma, factors that potentially explain the relationship, and interventional strategies relevant to the clinician.