Review Article Role of Obesity in Asthma Control,

Copyright © 2013 Shannon Novosad et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Asthma is a disease with distinct phenotypes that have implications for both prognosis and therapy. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated an association between asthma and obesity. Further studies have shown that obese asthmatics have poor asthma control andmore severe asthma.This obese-asthma groupmay represent a unique phenotype.Themechanisms behind poor asthma control in obese subjects remain unclear, but recent research has focused on adipokines and their effects on the airways as well as the role of oxidative stress. Both surgical and nonsurgical weight loss therapy have shown promising results with improvements in asthma control and decreased asthma severity. Comorbid conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease and obstructive sleep apneamay also have a role in poor asthma control in obese asthmatics. Further research is needed to define themechanisms behind this phenotype which will guide the development of targeted therapies