Is Your Weight Impacting Your Breathing? 7 Signs to Address It

Maintaining a balanced diet, regular exercise, and getting medical treatment when needed are the best ways to treat respiratory issues brought on by excess weight. Proactively managing these symptoms and overall identifying them early can significantly improve respiratory well-being.

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Obesity is one of the major risk factors for pulmonary conditions. The most significant ones include asthma, obesity-hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), deep vein clots, lung clots, and pneumonia.

It has been observed that losing weight reduces the severity and symptoms of lung diseases. Patients who are overweight or obese are advised to reduce their weight to address pre-existing conditions or lower their risk of lung disorders.

One of the major contributing factors to several long-term diseases and chronic conditions, such as diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, and some types of cancer, is obesity. Respiratory symptoms and deterioration of lung function are further consequences of abdominal obesity. It is believed that the extra fat in the abdominal wall and surrounding the organs impairs the diaphragm's ability to expand the lungs during inspiration and lowers lung capacity.

It is important to understand what causes respiratory issues and how weight plays a role in respiratory problems. Everyone should know the signs and symptoms shared by Dr. Nagesh Dhadge, Consultant, Pulmonology, Manipal Hospital, Pune of these issues:

1. Shortness of Breath: Obesity-related shortness of breath is usually connected to central fat accumulation. Even at rest, the lungs' capacity to expand may be limited by fat stored in the chest and abdomen. It might cause a person to consistently breathe shallowly, changing their regular breathing pattern.

2. Unexpected weight loss: Unintentional weight loss could indicate a medical emergency. Numerous conditions could be the cause of an unexplained weight loss. These include conditions that interfere with the body's ability to absorb nutrients, such as malabsorption disorders, diabetes, depression, cancer, and hyperthyroidism.

3. Chronic Fatigue: Low blood oxygenation could be the cause of chronic fatigue. When carrying excess weight, the body must exert more effort to get oxygen to tissues and organs. This extra work can cause fatigue and low energy that lasts even after getting enough sleep.

4. Wheezing: The high-pitched whistling sound that occurs during breathing that relates to wheezing is a sign that weight is having an impact on lung health. It frequently happens when the lungs and chest are under increased pressure, which causes the airways to narrow.

5. Cough/Intolerance of Asthma: In obesity, narrowing of the breathing tubes occurs, and they are unusually sensitive (more likely to become narrow to trivial stimuli). Also, obesity is a risk factor for the development of asthma.  Being overweight can exacerbate asthma symptoms in people who already have the condition. More frequent and severe asthma episodes could lead to increased strain on the lungs and airways. Controlling weight with diet and exercise can help improve general respiratory health and manage symptoms of asthma. 

6. Sleep Apnea and Snoring: A risky disease called sleep apnea causes breathing to stop and dangerously slow down during the night. It regularly has a connection to obesity. An obstructed airway resulting from an abundance of fat in the neck and throat can cause snoring and disrupt breathing patterns. This condition not only affects sleep quality but also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Due to fat deposition around the neck, the airway passage around the back of the tongue gets narrowed. In addition, the weakness of the dilator muscles of the throat in obese individuals, which keep the airway open during sleep, further reduces the diameter of the space behind the tongue base during sleep due to the negative pressure collapse of tissues. These changes produce snoring sounds during sleep. Although not all snoring is dangerous, if it is louder and causes disruption of sleep at night, then it is pathological and needs further evaluation.

7. Chronic Chest Pain: One of the symptoms of many different situations is chest pain. It is commonly associated with lung disease, but it can also be an indication of a heart attack or other cardiac condition. Always take chest pain seriously, especially if it continues for more than a month or worsens with breathing or coughing.