Chest
Critical ReviewRespiratory Complications of Obesity
Section snippets
Mechanical Factors in Obesity
In addition to the numerical definition offered above, obesity also can be described as an excessive accumulation of fat that causes a generalized increase in body mass. Fat serves as a caloric storage depot and is not as metabolically active as muscle tissue. Nevertheless, since muscle work must be performed to move an obese body, obesity imposes high metabolic demands. These demands are reflected in the fact that the obese subject's oxygen consumption ( o2) and carbon dioxide
Conclusion
The major respiratory complications of obesity, with or without hypoventilation, have been outlined by Rochester and Enson.8 These complications include: heightened demand for ventilation; elevated work of breathing; respiratory muscle inefficiency, if not dysfunction; decreased Ccw and CL; diminished FRC and ERV; and a high CV to FRC ratio which is associated with closure of peripheral lung units, abnormalities, and hypoxemia, especially in the supine position. The major
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From the Department of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle