Excess fat affects breathing airways and restricts the effects of drugs, especially in people with asthma, say researchers from the Hunter Medical Research Institute at the University of Newcastle in Australia.
14 asthmatics who were not overweight and 16 obese patients ate fatty foods, like hamburgers and fries, while 16 non-obese asthmatics adopted a low-fat yogurt-based diet for this study.
Lisa Wood is a lecturer in biomedical sciences and pharmacy at the research institute. She says: "This is the first study to look at the effects of a high-fat challenge on airway inflammation. Our preliminary results demonstrate that at four hours after the consumption of the food challenges, subjects who consumed the high-fat meal had an increase in airway inflammation. They also had an impaired response to [asthma medication]."
The high-fat diet slowed the effects of albuterol, an asthma medication. It is still unclear why fatty foods affect the respiratory system and the effect of drugs so researchers have a lot more to look in the coming months.