How is lymphedema related to obesity?
Currently, we lack definitive epidemiological data regarding the association between obesity and lymphedema. We do not know the degree to which LE risk and severity increase as body mass index increases. We further lack insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms through which lymphedema and obesity may relate. Morbid obesity appears capable of producing lymphedema in the absence of any iatrogenic or traumatic compromise of the lymphatic system. This may occur because as the arteriovenous system proliferates in response to the oxygen requirements of increasing fatty tissue, the lymphatic system fails to proliferate comparably, if at all. Progressive disequilibrium between interstitial fluid delivery and removal may produce an increase in net ultrafiltration. Ultimately, lymphatic overload and valvular incompetence may result. Alternatively, changes in the interstitial space may develop in morbid obesity that undermine lymphatic function. The fact that obesity, even when extreme, doe
