Study design: interventional, open label, randomized
Patients selection
Thirty-three difficult to control obese asthmatic patients, aged between 18 to 65 years old will be recruited from the outpatient clinics of the Pulmonary Division of the University of Sao Paulo Hospital.
Difficult to control asthma will be defined as patients who do not achieve asthma control (according to GINA) despite best treatment regimen and checked adherence after at least three months of treatment.
Intervention: Patients will be divided in two groups: asthma treatment plus weight loss program or asthma treatment alone for 6 months without drug dose changing.
Procedures (baseline and after 6 months) - quality of life questionnaire, asthma control questionnaire, lung function tests, serum and sputum inflammatory markers.
