In recent years as obesity has evolved into a global epidemic, more and more research has been conducted to shed some light on its connection to other diseases; and there have been quite a number of studies that have looked into the role of obesity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.

Why? After heart disease and cancer, COPD is the number three cause of death in the United States.

We spoke with Ed Neuzil, Board Certified Nurse Practitioner at Allergy, Sinus and Asthma Family Health Center about how our weight and particularly excess belly fat raises your risk for developing chronic COPD.