Weighing yourself often might not work wonders for your emotional wellness, but for Sally Edwards it made all the difference to a major health concern. ‘My doctor had retired and I changed to a new surgery where they had an asthma clinic,’ says the hairdresser from Aldington in Kent. ‘They saw on my notes that I suffered from asthma, but this was the first time anyone in the medical profession had weighed me. She took a sharp breath and made a face, so I knew it wasn’t good news.’ The 5ft 2in 45-year-old was appalled to discover her weight had shot up to more than 11st, and was now officially obese.
According to Sally, ‘The problem was that I didn’t feel fat because the weight had crept on so gradually during and after my pregnancies. Then when the children left things on their plates, I’d pick at the leftovers…I knew that I had to do something about it or my asthma would just get worse because I would become more immobile and reluctant to exercise.’ There is a clear link between obesity and asthma attacks, says Deborah Waddell, clinical lead nurse at the charity Asthma UK. She notes, ‘Obese people find their asthma much harder to control.’ In fact, researchers from RoyalBromptonHospital in London found that having a BMI of more than 30 makes you more likely to need the steroid prednisolone – used to reduce inflammation in the airways – and to resort to your inhalers more often.
Dr Andrew Menzies-Gow, a consultant in respiratory medicine at Royal Brompton, comments, ‘Unfortunately, one of the side-effects of prednisolone is increased appetite and weight gain, so patients are more inclined to find activity difficult. It’s a vicious circle, but if an asthma sufferer can break that cycle and lose weight, the benefits will be obvious.’ Sally definitely saw the need to lose weight and improve her fitness. ‘Getting up the stairs was very scary because the wheezing was so loud,’ she recalls. ‘And it stayed at the same level in my 30s and into my 40s. I couldn’t run after the children at the park.’
In order to lose weight, Sally stepped up her exercise regime, taking up jogging after looking on the Asthma UK website. Now, she runs four miles three times a week, attends a weekly spinning class, and cycles short distances instead of using the car soon. ‘I lost a stone-and-a-half in eight months and it made a huge difference,’ enthuses Sally. ‘It really brought the asthma under control and made the attacks less frequent and less severe – I have just one a month instead of three a week. When I was 11st, my body was struggling to cope with the weight, especially climbing stairs, but the fitter you are, the stronger your lungs become.’
Waddell explains, ‘If you can exercise, this will expand the airways, and improve your lung function. Following a low-fat, low-sugar diet and getting rid of weight, especially around the middle, will make a big difference. It’s all about changing your behaviour and lifestyle.’ Dr Menzies-Gow adds ‘Weight loss and exercise are not a magic bullet for asthma, but they can help enormously.’ He recommends that you take a close look at your entire lifestyle, stop smoking and avoid pets which aggravate the condition. As for Sally, the weighing scales were a wake-up call, but they’re still not her best friend: ‘I still don’t weigh myself very often, but now I have a pair of size 12 jeans and I try them on once a week,’ she admits. ‘I know that if they don’t fit then I have to try just that bit harder to keep the weight off.’
