Obesity causes labored breathing, but not asthma

• Health experts say thousands of overweight Australians may been misdiagnosed with asthma.
• A new study says while obese people do have changes in their airways, it is not asthma and taking asthma medication will do little to help their symptoms.
• Researchers at Sydney's Woolcock Institute examined 300 people in their 20s and 30s.
• The head of imaging at the institute, Dr Greg King, says they found those patients carrying extra weight had reduced lung function because their organs were compressed.
• "We were looking for a mechanism as to why obese patients might complain of wheeze and one of those reasons we suspected was having very narrow airways," he said.
• Despite having similar symptoms, what the overweight patients did not have was asthma.
• And doctors say taking anti asthma medication would not help and could harm them.
• "Treating them with asthma drugs is going to be useless and in fact it's going to increase the likelihood of side effects," Dr King said.
• Dr King believes some overweight patients may have been incorrectly diagnosed with asthma, when it is really their weight causing the problems.
• Adam Hinchliffe does have asthma and is also battling a weight problem.
• Doctors say it is making his breathing more difficult.
• "It's been put to me that the best way to go forward from here to is reduce weight, improve exercise in whatever works for you, but that is the best thing you can do," Mr Hinchliffe said.
• Medical experts remain divided about whether obesity can cause asthma.
• Doctors say these findings suggest it is not the case.
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