A big waist can weigh on lungs, study finds
Reported July 18, 20
09
People who carry too much weight around the middle may be putting a burden on their lungs, a new study finds.
Researchers who reviewed the health of 120,000 people in France found that those who were obese around the abdomen had worse lung function.
The researchers, writing in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, defined abdominal obesity as a waist circumference of 35 inches or greater for women and 40 inches or greater for men. The effect on the lungs was found even after body mass index – a measure of overall fitness – was taken into account.
The study, led by Dr. Natalie Leone of the National Institute for Health and Medical Research in France, noted that impaired lung function could be a signal of serious health problems in the future, including cardiovascular disease. Abdominal obesity is one part of a cluster of symptoms that make up a condition known as metabolic syndrome.
There are several explanations for why extra weight around the waist might make the lungs work less well, the study said.
It may simply be that the added fat gives the lungs less room to expand. But it may also be that the fat cells act to increase inflammation throughout the body, including in the lungs.
Ambulance stethoscopes may pose risk
Stethoscopes carried by ambulance crews are not always cleaned as often as they should be, and as a result they may be exposing some patients to drug-resistant bacteria, a new study reports.
Researchers who looked at stethoscopes used by emergency medical services workers in New Jersey found that a significant number carried methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, bacteria known as MRSA that are resistant to standard drugs.
Some of the ambulance workers could not recall the last time the instruments had been cleaned, said the researchers, whose report appears in the current issue of Prehospital Emergency Care.
The study’s lead author, Dr. Mark A. Merlin of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said it was unclear how big a threat MRSA on a stethoscope posed to a patient. But as incidents of infection by the bacteria become more common, and with the possibility that it will become more resistant to antibiotics, it is important to reduce its spread, he said.
Researchers asked ambulance crews arriving at an emergency department over a 24-hour period to let their stethoscopes be tested. They also asked when the instruments had last been cleaned.
Of 50 stethoscopes tested, 16 had the bacteria, which a simple alcohol swab is usually enough to kill, the researchers said.
Source : New York Times News Service
