Author: admin-chereso

Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is a condition in obese people in which poor breathing leads to lower oxygen and higher carbon dioxide levels in the blood.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

The exact cause of OHS is unknown. The condition is believed to result from both a defect in the brain’s control over breathing, and excessive weight (due to obesity) against the chest wall. This makes it hard for a person to take a deep breath. As a result, the blood has too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen. People with OHS are often tired due to sleep loss, poor sleep quality, and chronic low blood oxygen levels (hypoxia).

Most patients with the syndrome have a form of sleep apnea. Obesity is the main risk factor.

Symptoms

The main symptoms of OHS are due to lack of sleep and include:

• Daytime sleepiness
• Depression
• Headaches

Symptoms of low blood oxygen level (chronic hypoxia) can also occur, such as shortness of breath or feeling tired after very little effort.

Signs and tests

People with OHS are usually very overweight. A physical exam may reveal:

• Bluish color in the lips, fingers, toes, or skin (cyanosis)
• Signs of right-sided heart failure (cor pulmonale), such as swollen legs or feet, shortness of breath, or feeling tired after little effort
• Reddish complexion

Tests used to help diagnose and confirm OHS include:

• Arterial blood gas
• Chest x-ray to rule out other possible causes
• Lung (pulmonary) function
• Sleep study

Doctors can tell OHS from obstructive sleep apnea because patients with OHS have high carbon dioxide levels in the blood when awake.

Treatment

The treatment involves breathing assistance using special machines (mechanical ventilation). Options include:

• Noninvasive mechanical ventilation (BiPAP or other modes) through a mask that fits tightly over the nose or nose and mouth (mainly for sleep)
• Breathing help (tube) through an opening in the neck (tracheostomy)
• Oxygen

Other treatments are aimed at weight loss, which can reverse OHS.

Support Groups

Support groups can help patients with OHS, or their family members, adjust to the lifestyle changes needed for treatment to be successful. Also, support groups can offer information about new treatments.

Expectations (prognosis)

Untreated, it can lead to serious heart and blood vessel problems, severe disability, or death. Chronic sleeping problems may also increase the chance of having a motor vehicle accident.

Complications

Complications of OHS have to do with a lack of sleep, such as:

• Increased risk for accidents or mistakes at work
• Depression, agitation, irritability
• Sexual dysfunction

OHS can also include heart problems, such as:

• Hypertension
• Right-sided heart failure (cor pulmonale)

Calling your health care provider

Call your health care provider if you are very tired during the day, or have any other symptoms that suggest OHS.

Prevention

Maintain a healthy weight and avoid obesity.

A good night’s sleep is one of the most important factors of keeping healthy and feeling great. Inadequate sleep may lead to many health problems. A recent study reveals that lack of sleep may be a cause of diabetes, report suntimes. According to the report

Researchers have identified a possible new risk factor for diabetes: not getting a good night’s sleep.

In a small study, University of Chicago researchers tested the theory on nine healthy young adults in a sleep lab.

For three nights, researchers prevented volunteers from getting the deepest and most restorative type of sleep.

Afterward, volunteers’ bodies did not use insulin as well as before: they needed more insulin to dispose of the same amount of a sugar solution.

This reduced insulin sensitivity was comparable to the effect of gaining 20 or 30 pounds.

Earlier studies found that not getting enough sleep can increase the risk of obesity and diabetes.

The U. of C. study is the first to suggest that not getting the right kind of sleep also could increase diabetes risk.

Obesity and aging are two big risk factors for diabetes. Obesity and aging also reduce sleep quality, further increasing the risk of diabetes

Most of the children find it quite fascinating to fulfill their tiny stomach with the trendy foods. There has been an alarming increase in the childhood obesity ratio over the last two decades. You need to know that a normal burger gives you 300 calories. Likewise, a regular pizza can pour in 600- 800 calories in your body.

According to reports, 20% of the Indian school going children are overweight. It is estimated that the 15% of the student population is at the risk of being overweight. This is a self inflicted epidemic and has to be dealt with equal vigilance. Various health consequences have come up like :

• §Type 2 Diabetes:It is proved that abdominal obesity is the root cause of Type 2 diabetes and is increasing at an alarming rate among the children in India.
• §Metabolic syndrome:Most of the Indian children have reported to have insulin resistance.
• §Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome:Most of the adolescent girls who are obese have been suffering from the PCOS, a hormonal imbalance that upsets the gynecologic balance in the body leading to acne, irregular menstrual cycles and insulin resistance.
• §Sub clinical inflammation:Obesity leads to vascular inflammation and has a high prevalence in India.

Socio Cultural issues that lead to child obesity:

1. 1.A general misconception is prevalent in India that the obese child is a healthy child and the so called “ baby fat” will vanish as the child grows. Since the child is constantly fed it becomes obese and remains the same throughout the life.
2. 2.Burdening the students with the studies and academic activities has left no room for physical activities. This is more prevalent among the girls who live a sedentary lifestyle when compared to the boys.
3. 3.Since most of the parents are working they find it extremely difficult to manage time and so order for “ junk foods.
4. 4.Most of the children are found to be spending more time in front of the computers and the television. So no time for play.

Various community intervention programs have been introduced to induce the students to follow a healthy lifestyle and creating awareness about the importance of physical activities among the children

Summer is the best time to get in shape and shed those extra pounds. According experts during this time of the year it’s easier to lose weight without going on a crazy diet. Ritika Samaddar, chief dietician, Max Healthcare, Delhi, explains that the weather is such that it automatically changes people’s eating habits.

“Drastic weight loss is easily possible in summers as compared to winters because one can exercise more in the season, does not overeat because of the slow body system and at the same time can consume more fluids that fill up the body. All these lead to a major weight loss,” Samaddar told IANS. The first basic step to lose weight is to break meals into various categories – early morning breakfast, breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, evening snack and dinner.

Diet plan

Nidhi S. Yadav, head, clinical nutrition, Fortis Healthcare, explains how to go about it. ”One should start the day with a glass of lukewarm water and honey. For a tea drinker, it should be a cup of tea with Marie biscuits and two or three walnuts or almonds. This should be followed by a breakfast – one can have muesli, oats, cornflakes with egg white,” she said. ”After an interval of two hours, one can go for salads or fruits. Lunch should consist of two chapatis made of multi-grain flour, a bowl of dal and green vegetables. Evening snacks can comprise a cup of tea with idli or dhokla or roasted channa. ”Dinner should consist of vegetable soup, brown bread or chapatis and veggies. If one feels hungry before going to sleep, one can have a glass of milk,” she said.

Fruits
Having fruits is essential to keep calories at bay, but one should avoid banana, mango and grapes as they are high on calories. It is better to go for watermelons, melons and sweet lime. One should either have fruits 40 minutes before a meal or two hours after a meal.
Fruit juices are a big no for a weight loss regime.

Things to avoid

Other avoidable foods are usual things like full fat milk, fried greasy foods, sugar and sugar products, refined cereals like maida and maida products such as samosa, kachori and bhatura, suggests Swati Bhardwaj, head, nutrition and fatty acid research at the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC). Even red meats one should avoid, she added.

Things to incorporate
“Skimmed milk, whole grain cereals (porridge), whole pulses, green leafy vegetables, salads and lean meats – chicken or fish (grilled or steamed or roasted) should be included in the diet for a speedy weight loss,” she said.

Hot water is advised when a person is following a weight loss regime. The intake of hot water helps in smooth functioning of the digestive system, but it does not have a direct connection with weight loss, points out dieticians. Slow metabolism is also the cause of excess weight gain. To speed up the weight loss process one should take care of it. ”Hot water with honey and lemon maintains the metabolic cycle and removes toxins from the body which indirectly helps in weight loss. Three teaspoons of Isabgol with a glass of water before dinner not only helps in reducing weight but also reduces the blood sugar levels

Yes indeed indians are more prone to Diabetes than Europeans or africans. The reason perhaps lies in our genes.
The ‘thrifty genes hypothesis’ which has gained considerable popularity mentions that in ancient times human race lived through the alternating times of famine and abundance- specially in our subcontinent. During the times of abundance body would store energy to survive droughts & famines – these stores are by the way of fats.
But in the modern era – food supply is abundant while physical work and more over hardships of famine are completely gone.
Our body still keeps on storing energy ( fat deposits) without subsequent utilizations, this leads to rise in blood lipids ( fats), damage to pancreas due to excessive glucose and fats in blood, excessive insulin requirements- insulin resistance, damage to blood vessels, formation of atheroscler otic plaques and its complications like Heart attack, stroke etc.
Important thing to watch for is Intra Abdominal deposition of fat. This is more harmful than subcutaneous fat deposits. But it can be used as a measure to predict the possiblity of Diabetes and insulin resistance.

• in males the maximum abdominal girth should be less than 100 cms
• in Females less than 87.5 cms

It may be easier to understand pear or apple shaped body, apple shaped body with largest abdominal girth predisposes to higher intra abdominal fat and its complications.

Abdominal girth should be measured as the maximum circumfrence of the abdomen near the umblicus.

If you’ve ever had trouble losing weight, you’ve probably placed at least some of the blame on a slow metabolism. It’s true that your basal metabolic rate — the rate at which your body uses energy — can affect your ability to shed pounds. But there are also a few external, controllable factors that can slow down that metabolic rate, says Michael West, MD, an endocrinologist with Washington Endocrine Clinic in Washington, D.C.

Here are eight triggers that can slow metabolism, some (but not all) of which you can control, to make sure you aren’t sabotaging your weight-loss efforts.

1. Age. As you get older, your ability to quickly use up energy diminishes and your metabolism can slow. “As cells age, they do metabolize less rapidly,” Dr. West says. Older people also tend to have less muscle mass than younger people, which translates to a reduced metabolic rate. While you can’t make yourself younger to speed up your metabolism, West suggests being diligent about getting enough exercise — many people tend to get out of the habit as they age. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that adults 65 and older get two and a half hours of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and do strengthening exercises on all the body’s major muscle groups at least twice a week.

2. Stress. When your nerves are frazzled, your body releases cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal system that is linked to weight gain. “There are definitely established links between psychological stress and the adrenal system,” West says. To make sure that stress isn’t making it harder to take off pounds, try to calm yourself by reducing the controllable stressors in your life. For example, if heavy traffic makes you nervous, avoid the roadways during rush hour. Regular physical activity, deep breathing, and even professional help from a psychologist or counselor may also be helpful.

3. Poor sleep habits. Getting too little shut-eye can significantly alter your body’s processes enough to predispose you to gain weight. “There was a recent study where healthy volunteers were subjected to poor sleep,” West says. “Even over one night, the lack of sleep was significant enough to disrupt their metabolic patterns and give them more insulin resistance, which is a risk factor for diabetes.” Insulin resistance has also been associated with obesity. To increase the chances of boosting metabolism, adults should get seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

4. Lack of exercise. Exercise not only helps you expend more calories while you’re physically active, but there’s also some evidence that it may increase your resting metabolic rate. To make sure you get enough exercise for boosting metabolism, set aside a dedicated period of time, rather than trying to accomplish it during the course of your everyday activities. Adults ages 18 to 64 need about two and a half hours of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, as well as strengthening exercises for all muscle groups twice a week.