Cured Meat Consumption Increases Risk for COPD in Adults

April 16, 2007 — In adults 45 years and older, frequent consumption of cured meats was associated with decreased lung function and increased risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to the results of a cross-sectional study reported in the April 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"Cured meats are high in nitrites," write Rui Jiang, MD, PhD, from Columbia University in New York, and colleagues. "Nitrites generate reactive nitrogen species that may cause nitrative and nitrosative damage to the lung resulting in emphysema."
This cross-sectional study evaluated 7352 participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), aged 45 years or older, who underwent spirometry and had adequate measures of cured meat, fish, fruit, and vegetable intake.
Frequency of cured meat consumption was inversely associated with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC), but not with FVC, after adjusting for age, smoking, and multiple other potential confounders.