"Both imbalanced nutrition and inadequate exercise may play a role in metabolic syndrome, and our experience suggests that degree of physical activity may be as important as nutrition," said Dr Piedimonte. "Our present data suggest that strict monitoring and dietary control of triglyceride and glucose levels starting in the first years of life may have a role in the management of chronic asthma in children. Furthermore, another paper just published by our group in Pediatrics supports universal lipid screening rather than the current National Cholesterol Education Program-recommended selective screening based on family history of premature heart disease. The rationale is that by using selective screening, we would have missed over a third of children with significant genetic dyslipidemia."

Furthermore, Dr. Piedimonte noted that animal studies recently presented by his group suggest a link between maternal diets high in fat and calories, the subsequent triglyceride levels of offspring, and the development of airway hyperreactivity in early life, hinting at a potential role of maternal diet in the prevalence of asthma in their offspring.

"The primary implication of the present study is that early metabolic abnormalities induced by imbalanced diet during pregnancy and childhood constitute the central hub from which the asthma-obesity-diabetes triad originates, at least in a subpopulation of patients," said Dr. Piedimonte. "This opens a Pandora's box of questions concerning the role of pre- and early post-natal nutrition as a critical determinant of chronic diseases throughout life. The ultimate goal is to elucidate the chronologic sequence of early-life events and the specific molecular mechanisms linking hypertriglyceridemia, insulin resistance, and the inflammation seen in obesity and asthma, which may open a new chapter in the management of these medical conditions that are among the most prevalent today."

Source: American Thoracic Society