1. Improvement of Respiratory Function with Weight Reduction in Obese Elderly
- Author
-
Koutaro Yokote, Ken Tamura, Nobuyuki Matsumoto, Michiko Matsumoto, Nobuhiro Morisaki, Shunichi Murano, Kojo Shirai, Yasushi Saito, Sho Yoshida, Mafumi Niijima, and Hiroshi Kimura
- Subjects
Partial Pressure ,Hypoxemia ,Sleep Apnea Syndromes ,Weight loss ,Weight Loss ,medicine ,Humans ,Respiratory function ,Obesity ,Progesterone ,Aged ,Obesity hypoventilation syndrome ,Body volume index ,business.industry ,Respiration ,Apnea ,Sleep apnea ,medicine.disease ,Oxygen ,Anesthesia ,Female ,Geriatrics and Gerontology ,medicine.symptom ,Respiratory Insufficiency ,business ,Body mass index - Abstract
The patient was a 74-year-old woman who had been obese since age 18. Her obesity was refractory to dietary manipulation. She had been suffering from increasing dyspnea for several months and eventually could not even move. She was admitted to a hospital and diagnosed as having heart failure. Although her cardiac function recovered with medical treatment, her symptoms did not improve. The patient was then sent to our hospital. On admission, her height and weight were 149 cm and 81.9 kg, respectively, yielding a body mass index (BMI) of 36.6 kg/m2. Arterial blood gas analysis in room air revealed hypoxemia and an apnea index of 27 per hour. She was given a daily 500-1000 kcal diet. After four months of treatment, her weight decreased to 65 kg with a BMI of 29.3 kg/m2. Weight reduction together with the usage of progesterone-derivatives resulted in marked improvement of sleep apnea. The apnea index decreased to 3/h and arterial blood gas values normalized. This patient seemed to have suffered from both obesity hypoventilation syndrome and sleep apnea syndrome. Improvement of respiratory function was achieved through relief of airway obstruction and weight reduction, with activation of the respiratory center due to progesterone treatment.
- Published
- 1992
- Full Text
- View/download PDF