Sleep Apnea and Weight Loss

Sleep apnea is a dangerous condition that often goes undiagnosed or ignored because it happens while sleeping. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that stems from difficulty in breathing, usually (but certainly not limited to) obstructions in the air passage-ways. During bouts of sleep apnea, breathing becomes erratic and sparse, leading to periods of at least 10 seconds without any breathing (intervals can vary greatly).

A trends towards obesity has dramatically increased the number of cases in the U.S (an estimated 12 million) due to fat-pads narrowing air canals. A reduction in weight can improve the quality of sleep and in some cases cure sleep apnea altogether.

This hub is aimed at detailing and explaining the correlation between fluctuations in weight and sleeping disorders, with an emphasis on sleep apnea.

There are three main causes of sleep apnea:

• Central (represents 0,4% of all cases) - which is defined at the lack of respiratory effort. This is a central nervous system disorder.
• Obstructive (84%) - Airflow is physically blocked (fat, tonsils or even the tongue).
• Complex (15%) - Involves a shift from central to obstructive sleep apnea.

As we can see, by far the most common cause of sleep apnea is obstructive. Here is a larger, more comprehensive list of obstructive sleep apnea causes:

• Being overweight
• Large tonsils
• Physical attributes (anatomical characteristics such as a receding chin)
• Nasal congestion
• Relaxation of tongue muscles

In this article we will be addressing one of these causes in particular: that of obesity. 

Diagnosing sleep apnea can be tricky, thankfully symptoms of sleep apnea are quite conspicious and a limited amount of knowledge may lead sufferers of this disorder to seek medical attention (where stronger clinical tests can thoroughly investigate the causes and severity of the disorder).

Symptoms Of Sleep Apnea

• Day-long fatigue
• Snoring (the loudness does not necessarily indicate a more severe case, additionally, snoring does not, by itself, mean you suffer from sleep apnea.
• Choking
• Amnesia
• General irritability (due to lack of sleep)
• Dryness of the throat or mouth
• Depressive bouts and mood swings
• Headaches

Using weight loss to cure sleep apnea has been shown to be effective. A study by the Karolinska Institutet found that:

""For obese men, a dramatic weight loss can be an effective way to improve moderate to severe sleep apnoea, scientists at Karolinska Institutet report. Those with severe sleep apnoea when the study began benefited most from weight loss."

"Our findings suggest that weight loss may be an effective treatment strategy for sleep apnoea in obese men," says Kari Johansson, one of the researchers involved in the study""

This study found that among participants, who on average lost 19 kilos, sleep apnea was less than halved. A second comparative study published on the Archives of Internal Medicine pitted two separate groups of obese men side-by-side. The first group lost on average 24 pounds, the second a little over 1 pound. The results with regards to sleep apnea were striking. The first (weight loss) group were three times more likely to experience a remission of sleep apnea as well as experiencing less than half of the sleep apnea episodes the second group had. Furthermore, the second group who did not partake in any weight loss program experienced a general worsening of their condition.

Weight loss has been shown to dramatically improve mild obstructive sleep apnea. Cases of central or complex apnea require other forms of treatment. Treatment of central sleep apnea may require medication, oxygen, nasal CPAP, or bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP).You may read more about central and complex sleep apnea here. 

I hope you have enjoyed this hub, and for people who suspect or know that they suffer from obstructive sleep apnea I hope it was of use.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thoog.