Obesity, metabolic syndrome heighten odds for asthma

Key takeaways:

• Both obesity and metabolic syndrome raised an adult’s likelihood for asthma.
• Two of the five components of metabolic syndrome increased the odds for asthma.

WASHINGTON — Obesity and metabolic syndrome each increased the odds for asthma in adults, with even higher odds found with both factors, according to data presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.

In a cross-sectional study of 2007 to 2016 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, Ji-Su Shim, MD, of Ewha Woman’s University Medical Center, and colleagues evaluated 41,480 adults to determine how asthma is linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is made up of five components: high blood glucose, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high triglyceride level, abdominal obesity and hypertension.

Researchers found that obesity significantly raised the odds for asthma (aOR = 1.3; 95% CI, 1.27-1.33), as did metabolic syndrome (aOR = 1.23; 95% CI, 1.2-1.25).

Notably, having both obesity and metabolic syndrome further heightened a patient’s likelihood for asthma (aOR = 1.38; 95% CI, 1.34-1.41). Researchers observed lower elevated odds for asthma when patients only had obesity (aOR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.25-1.31) or only had metabolic syndrome (aOR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.1-1.18).

Within the study population, females with metabolic syndrome faced an increased likelihood for asthma (aOR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.35-1.43), whereas males with this condition had a reduced likelihood for this outcome (aOR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.75-0.82).

Two out of the five metabolic syndrome components significantly raised an adult’s likelihood for asthma: abdominal obesity (aOR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.24-1.32) and hypertension (aOR = 1.16; 95% CI, 1.12-1.2).

“Risk of asthma was highest when both obesity and metabolic syndrome were present, followed by obesity alone and [metabolic syndrome] alone,” Shim and colleagues wrote.

References:

• Metabolic syndrome. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/metabolic-syndrome/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20351921. Published May 6, 2021. Accessed Feb. 14, 2024.
• Shim JS, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2024;doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2023.11.090.