Jakarta, IO – “Obesity” is defined as your body piling up so much fat it damages your health. More than 600 million adults suffer from obesity and 2.8 million die of it every year worldwide. According to WHO criteria, a body mass index of >25 kg/m2 is classified as “obese”. It frequently causes comorbidity, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, high cholesterol (dyslipidemia), stroke, as well as sleep problems like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
“Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleeping problem frequently suffered by the obese. It is marked by abnormal breathing due to the obstruction of the respiratory channel during sleep, whether partial or complete, followed by intermittent dips in oxygen saturation. The problem can be either absolute stoppage of breathing (apnea) or lowered flow of breath (hypopnea),” said dr. Telly Kamelia, Sp.PD-KP, internist and pulmonary disease specialist, in her online doctorate promotional examination at the University of Indonesia Faculty of Medicine, this Tuesday (31/05/2022).
Fat in the obese tends to mass in the stomach and pharynx, obstructing the function of the upper respiratory system’s muscles. This is a major factor in respiratory obstruction, OSA’s pathophysiologic hallmark. OSA’s obvious symptoms include strong snoring during sleep; frequently getting into a state of half-awakening because of a sense of difficulty breathing, choking, or even outright stopping of breathing during sleep; high blood pressure; and exhaustion and sleepiness in the daytime despite having slept the night before.
Experts believe that OSA is strongly connected with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Respiratory obstruction in OSA causes the sufferer to have lowered oxygen levels and heightened carbon dioxide levels repeatedly, which in turn causes the body to have increased sympathetic nervous system activity, oxidative stress, inflammation of mediator cells, metabolic regulation problems, and solidification of blood and blood vessel walls. The longterm effects of these changes include damage to the heart’s structure and function, including the heart’s diastolic dysfunction, which may end with the onset of heart failure.