World Asthma Day 2022: Oral Corticosteroids May Make You Gain Weight, Become Obese

People with asthma were found to have a 21 per cent greater risk for obesity than those without asthma.

Are you taking corticosteroids to control your asthma symptoms? Researchers have warned that the medications may raise the risk of patients becoming obese, particularly when taken in pill form.

Adult asthma patients are often recommended oral corticosteroids to open up their airways. But researcher Subhabrata Moitra, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, suggested that doctors can also look for other alternatives, such as inhaled corticosteroids and the new biologics, to control asthma.

Moitra and his team found that oral corticosteroids have a direct effect on the development of obesity among asthmatic people. However, the increased risk for obesity was not seen in patients using inhaled corticosteroids.

People with asthma at greater risk for obesity

For the study, Moitra and his team looked at the data of more than 8,700 people from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey, collected between 1990 and 2014. They found that about 15 per cent of those without asthma became obese, compared with nearly 17 per cent of those with asthma.

After accounting for other risk factors, those with asthma had a 21 per cent greater risk for obesity than those without asthma, the researchers said.

People with the longest history of asthma had a 32 per cent higher risk of becoming obese than those who had asthma for the shortest time. Patients using oral corticosteroids had 99 per cent higher risk for obesity as compared with those not using these medications, the researchers added.

Obesity further exacerbates asthma symptoms

Being obese can make asthma harder to control, Moitra said.

Can stopping oral corticosteroids help me lost weight? Only stopping oral corticosteroids won't help, Moitra said, adding that one needs to change their lifestyle, do physical activity, and change their diet as well.

When you become obese, it can further exacerbate the asthma. Then more other medications may be needed to control your symptoms. "So, it's actually a feedback loop," the researcher stated.

Moitra and his team reported their findings in the April 27 online issue of the journal Thorax.

Speaking to an American media firm, Dr. Sherry Farzan, an allergy and immunology physician at Northwell Health in Great Neck, N.Y. suggested that oral corticosteroid use should be limited to those cases where it is absolutely necessary.

The expert noted that although oral corticosteroids do not completely explain why asthma patients are prone to obesity, it may be the only controllable variable contributing to obesity. She believes that the underlying severity of condition may be the primary factor associated with obesity incidence in asthma patients.

Poor dietary habits (eating more foods high in sugar or saturated fatty acids, or low in antioxidants or fiber) has been associated with increased respiratory symptoms and higher risk for the development of obesity.

Studies have also suggested exposure to air pollution and parental smoking as independent risk factors for the development of both obesity and asthma in children.