Abstract

BACKGROUND
Obesity alters breathing mechanics during exercise. Weight loss improves lung function at rest, but the effect of weight loss, especially regional fat loss, on exercise breathing mechanics is unclear. We hypothesized that weight loss, especially a decrease in abdominal fat, would improve breathing mechanics during exercise because of an increase in end-expiratory lung volume (EELV).
METHODS
Nine obese men were studied before and after weight loss (13% ± 8% of total fat weight, mean ± SD). Subjects underwent pulmonary function testing, underwater weighing, fat distribution estimates (MRI), and graded cycle ergometry before and after a 12-week diet and exercise program. In seven men, esophageal and gastric pressures were measured. The effects of weight loss were analyzed at rest, at ventilatory threshold (VTh), and during peak exercise by dependent Student t test, and the relationship among variables was determined by correlation analysis.
RESULTS
Subjects lost 7.4 ± 4.2 kg of body weight (P < .001), but the distribution of fat remained unchanged. After weight loss, lung volume subdivisions at rest were increased (P < .05) and were moderately associated (P < .05) with changes in chest, waist, and hip circumferences. At VTh, EELV increased, and gastric pressure decreased significantly (P < .05). The changes in waist circumference, hip circumference, BMI, and sum of chest, waist, and hip circumferences were also consistently and significantly correlated (P < .05) with changes in gastric pressure during exercise at VTh.
CONCLUSIONS
Modest weight loss improves breathing mechanics during submaximal exercise in otherwise healthy obese men, which is clinically encouraging. Improvement appears to be related to the cumulative loss of chest wall fat.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Babb TG, Wyrick BL, Chase PJ, Delorey DS, Rodder SG, Feng MY, Ranasinghe KG

Institution

Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, Dallas, TX 75231, USA. TonyBabb@TexasHealth.org

Source

Chest 140:2 2011 Aug pg 454-60

MeSH

Adiposity
Exercise
Functional Residual Capacity
Humans
Inspiratory Capacity
Lung Volume Measurements
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Obesity
Pulmonary Gas Exchange
Respiratory Mechanics
Total Lung Capacity
Vital Capacity
Weight Loss

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

21273293