Obesity hypoventilation syndrome
CONDITION IN WHICH SEVERELY OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE FAIL TO BREATHE RAPIDLY OR DEEPLY ENOUGH
Obesity-hypoventilation syndrome; Pickwickian syndrome; Pickwickianism
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is a condition in which severely overweight people fail to breathe rapidly or deeply enough, resulting in low oxygen levels and high blood carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. The syndrome is often associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which causes periods of absent or reduced breathing in sleep, resulting in many partial awakenings during the night and sleepiness during the day.