Study Links Cured Meats to Lung Disease

But more research is needed to prove the association, experts say

By Jeffrey Perkel
HealthDay Reporter

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MONDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- As if you needed another reason to improve your eating habits, researchers have demonstrated a possible link between a diet rich in cured meats -- such as hot dogs, bacon and deli meats -- and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Dr. Rui Jiang, an associate research scientist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, led the study that examined the diet and lung function of 7,352 people with an average age of 64.5 years.

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Using data compiled as part of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the study authors found a statistical association between people who ate 14 or more servings monthly of cured meats and the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This held true even after the researchers factored in such variables as age, smoking, and the amount of fruits and vegetables in the subjects' diets.

"People who eat 14 or more servings of cured meat per month have about an 80 percent increased odds of COPD versus people who don't eat cured meat at all," Jiang said.

And, the more cured meats a person eats a month, on average, the higher the risk of COPD, the study said.

The findings were published in the April issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

According to the American Lung Association, COPD is an umbrella term for emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. The single greatest risk factor for the disease is smoking.

Yet, the association between COPD and cured meats doesn't come entirely out of left field. Cured meats are rich in nitrites, which have, in animal studies, been linked to lung damage. No epidemiologic study had ever been done to test the possible association between cured meats and lung disease in humans, however, Jiang said.

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