The Effect of Obesity on Lung Functioning

Exclusion Criteria

• •Tobacco use within one month.
• •Qualifying lung-functioning.
• •Qualifying oxygen saturation levels.
• •Use of systemic corticosteroids (Prednisone) within one month.
• •Presence of another chronic lung disease besides asthma (COPD, bronchiectasis, ILD, sarcoidosis, etc).
• •Presence of another chronic systemic inflammatory disease (rheumatoid arthritis or other connective-tissue disease, chronic infection such as osteomyelitis, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic active hepatitis, etc). Subjects with osteoarthritis, stable coronary artery disease, hypertension, or diabetes mellitus will not be excluded.
• •Presence of malignant neoplasm within the last 3 years (with the exception of non-melanoma skin cancer).
• •Clinically significant left or right ventricular dysfunction.
• •Severe pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure).
• •Untreated obstructive sleep apnea:
• •Subjects with a current diagnosis of sleep apnea not being treated with CPAP or BiPAP will be excluded.
• •Subjects with a current diagnosis of sleep apnea being treated adequately (as determined by the investigators) will be included.
• •Prader-Willi syndrome
• •A known endocrinopathy causing obesity (e.g., Cushing's Syndrome).