Obesity hypoventilation syndrome is also known by a name that refers to which Charles Dickens novel in which the 'fat boy' Joe exhibits the symptoms?
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome symptoms. The most effective treatment is weight loss, but it is often possible to relieve the symptoms by nocturnal ventilation with positive airway pressure (CPAP) or related methods. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome is defined as the combination of obesity (body mass index above 30 kg/m), hypoxemia (falling oxygen levels in blood) during sleep, and hypercapnia (increased blood carbon dioxide levels) during the day, resulting from hypoventilation (excessively slow or shallow breathing). The disease has been known since the 1950s, initially as "Pickwickian syndrome" in reference to a Dickensian character but currently under a more descriptive name. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome is a
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome OHS fall into the first category, and 10% in the second. Most people with obesity hypoventilation syndrome have concurrent obstructive sleep apnea, a condition characterized by snoring, brief episodes of apnea (cessation of breathing) during the night, interrupted sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness. In OHS, sleepiness may be worsened by elevated blood levels of carbon dioxide, which causes drowsiness ("CO narcosis"). Other symptoms present in both conditions are depression, and hypertension (high blood pressure) that is difficult to control with medication. The high carbon dioxide can also cause headaches, which tend to be worsening in the morning. The low oxygen