People with restrictive lung function are likely to also have heart disease or diabetes
Take a deep breath in and as you inhale, pay attention to your lungs and chest expanding. Now, imagine you could not expand your lungs to their maximum capacity. The inability to fully expand the lungs when inhaling is usually a sign of restrictive lung function. This condition has been linked to worse quality of life, increased mortality, and it is a good predictor of reduced life expectancy even among people who have never smoked in their life.
Using data from almost 24,000 people, aged 40 years and above, who participated in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study, we have investigated the relationship between restrictive lung function and hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Participants in this study provided information on several aspects of their life, including whether they had been diagnosed with specific diseases, whether they smoke or smoked, their weight, and their highest level of education. Lung function was measured through spirometry.
Almost a third of the participants in the BOLD study had restrictive lung function. Most of these people live in Africa and Asia. One in 4 participants had hypertension, 1 in 10 had cardiovascular disease and 8 in 100 had diabetes. The odds of having hypertension or cardiovascular disease were 50% higher among people with restrictive lung function than among people without this lung condition. The odds of having diabetes were 86% higher. These findings were independent of age, sex, level of education, whether they smoked, and whether they were underweight or obese.
The underlying reasons for the occurrence of restrictive lung function with hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are not known. Therefore, there is a need for more studies to investigate this relationship.
The findings of this study were published in the peer-reviewed journal Respiratory Research. The article can be read here: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12931-022-01939-5.