Weight Loss, Not Aerobic Exercise, Improves
Pulmonary Function in Older Obese Men
Weight Loss Study Aim
The effect of weight loss or aerobic exercise (AEX) on pulmonary function
in middle-aged and older (46-80 years) obese, sedentary men to determine
the effect of reductions in body weight and increases in cardiorespiratory
fitness on pulmonary function was studied.
Weight Loss Study Results
The 35 subjects who completed the weight loss study decreased weight by
11 percent, body fat percentage by 21 percent, waist circumference by
8 percent, waist-hip ratio by 2 percent, and fat-free mass by 3 percent.
This resulted in a 3 percent increase in forced vital capacity (FVC),
a 5 percent increase in total lung capacity, an 18 percent increase in
functional residual capacity, and an 8 percent increase in residual volume,
with no change in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC
ratio, or carbon monoxide diffusing capacity. The change in FVC correlated
with change in body weight. The 38 subjects who completed AEX increased
V.O2max by 14 percent, with no change in pulmonary function. There were
no changes in 8 control subjects.
Weight Loss Study Conclusion
Weight loss changes static lung volumes, not dynamic pulmonary function,
in middle-aged and older, moderately obese, sedentary men. Some of the
alterations in static lung function associated with aging may be due to
the development of obesity and are modifiable by weight loss.
Source: 2000 The Gerontological Society
of America.
Articles to Help You Lose Weight
|
|
|
com