What is the hypoventilation syndrome of obesity?
Hypoventilation syndrome of obesity (OHS) is a condition that normally affects overweight people, characterized by slow or hollow breathing, which subsequently causes reduced oxygen and increased carbon dioxide. The condition is also known as Pickwickian syndrome. The alternative term originated in the 1950s-in the same decade, when the condition was discovered-when a report revealing the growing lethargy of a professional poker player gaining weight caused a comparison with the character in Charles Dickens from 1837 Papers of Pickwick Club .
Poker-player report published in 1956 was far from the first on too slow or hollow breathing, known for hypocolation of the medical term. However, this was the first time that the medical community was distinguished between hypococence and sleep apnea, the other describing breathing pauses when you sleep. This distinction resulted in the division of OHS on two subtypes: the one that is characterized by sleep apnea or doEarly stop breathing and the second that does not have such an interruption but is still marked by insufficient breathing. Doctors may distinguish obesity hypoventilation syndrome differently from sleep apnea by detecting higher levels of carbon dioxide in the patient's blood when waking up.
In addition to apne sleep, other symptoms of obesity hypoventilation may include drowsiness or drowsiness during the day, depression and hypertension or high blood pressure. In more extreme cases, patients may have shortness of breath, headache and heart pain on the right side or corlmonale. Complications of the disease include an increased risk of accident or sexual dysfunction.
The risk of obtaining obesity syndrome increases with weight accumulation, as the added weight is assumed to reduce the thoracic wall by a deeper breath. With such interruption in the circulatory system, the result of blood that has little oxygen but altitudeCarbon dioxide. In addition, most OHS patients have sleep apnea. However, the exact cause of obesity hypoventilation syndrome is still a mystery.
The best way to avoid the contractual obesity syndrome is to prevent healthy weight. However, those with OHS can look for treatment of doctors who can recommend a respiratory ventilation device called a continuous positive airway pressure machine (CPAP). Untreated obesity syndrome, obesity, can lead to more serious problems such as heart damage and blood vessel.