Grace J, et al. - Obesity exerts both positive and negative impacts on clinical outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this current study, researchers investigated if fat location explains the differential association of body mass index (BMI) with clinical outcome measures in smokers. They observed an association between increased subcutaneous chest fat and less emphysema progression over time in smokers. At the same time, they also reported an association of increased mediastinal fat volume with decreased walk distance and increased interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels.