Symptoms of Pickwickian Syndrome are not diagnosed properly. As a result, the exact prevalence of this complication found in severely overweight people is not known. Unfortunately, experts are of the opinion that this condition will rise in the near future in the United States. The reason is an unprecedented rise of obesity in this country in the recent times. This article tries to understand the signs of this condition to be watched out for.
Patients suffering from this condition cannot breathe deeply or rapidly. This leads to lowering of oxygen levels and raise in the levels of carbon dioxide in the body.
People with a body mass index of 40 kg/m2 or higher are at more risks of developing this condition. Men are twice affected by it when compared to the women. The average age of patients diagnosed with this condition is 52 years.
Symptoms of Pickwickian Syndrome:
- Concurrent sleep apnea found in 10-20 percent of the patients where there is low or no breathing during the sleep
- Depression
- Headache which becomes severe in the morning caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide
- Snoring
- Interrupted sleep
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Hypertension or high blood pressure which cannot be controlled by medicines
- Excessive strain on the right side of the heart technically called as col pulmonale found in a third of all patients suffering from this condition
- Decreased tolerance of exercise
- Chest pain
- Swelling or edema in the skin of the legs
- High pressure on the blood carrying veins of the heart
- Accumulation of fluids in the abdominal cavity
- Difficulty for the heart to pump blood from the body through lungs
- Palpable parasternal heave – Sound produced by a sustained outward movement of a portion of the heart
It is not known why the symptoms of Pickwickian Syndrome or Obesity hypoventilation syndrome are found in some obese people and not in others.
