The Hidden Respiratory Burden of Obesity: Understanding the Clinical Consequences

Guest: Sujith Cherian MD, FCCP, DAABIP Obesity introduces distinct changes to respiratory physiology that ripple across care settings—from subtle outpatient symptoms to complex ventilatory challenges in the ICU and heightened perioperative risks. Dr. Sujith Cherian explains real-world scenarios and physiologic insights to show how excess weight influences not just lung mechanics, but length of stay, postoperative recovery, and cardiopulmonary complications. Dr. Cherian is an Associate Professor in the Divisions of Critical Care, Pulmonary, and Sleep Medicine at University of Texas Health-McGovern Medical School. He also serves as the Director of Interventional Pulmonology and Pleural Diseases at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston.