Obese asthma is now well recognised as a phenotype of severe asthma that is prevalent and less responsive to standard asthma medications, thus discovering specialised therapies is becoming increasingly essential. Obesity can induce asthma due to a complex interplay of mechanical, immunological, metabolic, and hereditary variables. Exercise programmes such as pulmonary rehabilitation, dietary restriction, exercise and bariatric surgery, or combinations of these can improve quality of life, symptoms, and exercise capacity while reducing medication use and exacerbations, and represent tailored treatment for this phenotype of severe, difficult-to-treat asthma.
Exercise and pulmonary rehabilitation, weight reduction programmes aimed at losing 5–10% of body weight, and bariatric surgery are all viable therapies for the obese asthma phenotype.
