ASTHMA, ALLERGY AND COPD CARE

Lose Weight To Help Manage Your Asthma - Conclusion

By Temma Ehrenfeld  @temmaehrenfeld
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October 26, 2017
06 Aug 2014 --- Beetroot and knife --- Image by © Yevgeniya Shal/The Picture Pantry/Corbis

3. Eat healthily. Both obesity and asthma have become more common in the period that people have shifted to the Western, diet heavy in saturated fat, salt, and sugar, and light in fiber and vegetable nutrients. The fat in meat is linked to severe asthma, and research suggests that eating fruits and vegetables can calm the airways. To test this on yourself, eat two fruits and five servings of vegetables every day for two weeks. If you can see a clear connection, that could help motivate you to love your salads.

4. Treat sleep apnea. A number of small studies suggest that using a CPAP machine to treat sleep apnea can make the airway less reactive.

5. Take your asthma seriously. Asthma isn’t just an annoyance. It can be fatal — even if your asthma symptoms are mild and intermittent. People who die usually had plenty of time to get to the emergency room; in 80 percent of fatal asthma attacks, the symptoms showed up from weeks to 12 hours earlier. In the other 20 percent, death occurred within six hours.

You are more at risk if you don’t recognize the experience of a constricted airway or you assume you can treat a severe attack with your medication. Obesity may also be a risk factor in sudden death from asthma, a finding in a 2017 study of autopsy records in part of Australia over 10 years.

 

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Updated:  

March 03, 2020

Reviewed By:  

Janet O’Dell, RN