Obesity and the lung: 3 · Obesity, respiration and intensive care
- 1Pulmonary and Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Divisions, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- 2West Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute, Department of Pulmonary Physiology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
- Dr A Malhotra, Pulmonary and Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Divisions, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA; amalhotra1{at}partners.org
- Received 4 November 2007
- Accepted 11 March 2008
Abstract
Obesity is a major problem from a public health perspective and a difficult practical matter for intensivists. The obesity pandemic has required treating clinicians to develop an appreciation of the substantial pathophysiological effects of obesity on the various organ systems. The important physiological concepts are illustrated by focusing on obstructive sleep apnoea, obesity hypoventilation syndrome, abdominal compartment syndrome and ventilatory management of the obese patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Footnotes
-
Funding: AM is funded by National Institutes of Health RO1-HL73146, SCOR P50 HL060292 and AG024837 and an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association and has received consulting and/or research funding from Respironics, Cephalon, Restore Medical, Apnex Medical, Itamar Medical, Novartis, Inspiration Medical, NMT Medical and Pfizer. DH is supported by National Health and Medical Research Council grants 403953 and 303218 and an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant and has received consulting and/or research funding from ResMed and Inspiration Medical.
-
Competing interests: None.
