Low Muscle Mass and High Visceral Fat "Also Harm Lung Health"

Seoul Asan Medical Center Professors Jung Youngjoo and Kim Honggyu Lead Analysis
"Lung function decline... up to fourfold difference"

A study has found that the amount of muscle and visceral fat is closely related not only to chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes but also to decreased lung function. In cases of 'sarcopenic obesity,' characterized by low muscle mass and high visceral fat, the level of lung function decline was nearly four times higher than that of healthy individuals.

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According to Seoul Asan Medical Center on the 10th, a research team led by Professors Jung Young-joo and Kim Hong-gyu from the Department of Health Medicine at the hospital published these findings in the recent issue of the international journal Chest, published by the American College of Chest Physicians.

The researchers analyzed abdominal computed tomography (CT) images and pulmonary function test results of 15,827 adults (9,237 men and 6,590 women) who underwent health checkups at the Seoul Asan Medical Center Health Promotion Center from 2012 to 2013. Using abdominal CT images, they calculated muscle mass and visceral fat area, and after adjusting for age and body mass index, divided the subjects into four groups ranging from the lowest 25% to the highest 25%.

Based on this, they analyzed how skeletal muscle mass and visceral fat affect lung capacity and expiratory volume (the amount of air expelled). The results showed that those with sarcopenic obesity?low muscle mass and high visceral fat?had the worst lung function.

Specifically, in men, the lung function decline rate in the sarcopenic obesity group was 19.1%, which is 4.3 times higher than the 4.4% decline rate in the group with high muscle mass and low visceral fat. In women, the rates were 9.7% and 3.1%, respectively, indicating that the sarcopenic obesity group had more than three times higher lung function decline. Lung function decline was defined as a percentage below 80% when compared to the standardized lung capacity values for Koreans.

On the other hand, those in the top 25% for muscle mass and bottom 25% for visceral fat showed the best lung capacity among all groups. Regardless of gender, this group had lung capacity values 3?5% higher than the group with the lowest muscle mass and highest visceral fat.

This suggests that the amount of muscle and visceral fat is related not only to the onset of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes but also to lung health.

Professor Jung Young-joo advised, "To improve lung function, it is necessary to reduce visceral fat while increasing healthy muscle with low fat. Appropriate exercise and dietary management tailored to each individual's body composition are essential."

Professor Kim Hong-gyu emphasized, "For obese individuals, combining aerobic exercise with strength training helps lung function, while for non-obese individuals, the focus should be on increasing healthy muscle."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.