Dramatic weight loss may be an effective way to improve moderate to severe sleep apnea in obese men, scientists at the Swedish medical university, Karolinska Institute, report. Those with severe sleep apnea when the study began benefited most from weight loss.
“Our findings suggest that weight loss may be an effective treatment strategy for sleep apnea in obese men,” says Kari Johansson, one of the researchers involved in the study.
For sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a new study shows that losing weight is perhaps the single most effective way to reduce OSA symptoms and associated disorders, according to findings published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Weight loss may not be a new miracle pill or a fancy high-tech treatment, but it is an exciting therapy for sufferers of OSA both because of its short- and long-term effectiveness and for its relatively modest price tag.
A study published in the August 15, 2008 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that surgical weight loss results in an improvement of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but most patients continue to have moderate to severe OSA one year after undergoing bariatric surgery. Results of this study suggest that it is the severity of the condition, rather than a patient’s pre-surgical weight, that determines if obstructive sleep apnea will be resolved.
Results show that bariatric surgery reduced body mass index (BMI) from an average of 51 to 32 in 24 adults with obstructive sleep apnea.
“Recent data on the long-term effectiveness of bariatric surgery on BMI suggest that, for most patients, BMI will be maintained substantially below preoperative levels, though some patients regain weigh and relapse toward morbid obesity,” the authors conclude. This subgroup may carry genetic susceptibilities to obesity that overcome the effects of bypass surgery.
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As of May 2, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. (-0500) (ET), the U.S. population
was 306,340,710. Sleep researchers estimate approximately seven percent
of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Using that
estimate, there are potentially 21,443,850 apneics in the U.S.
~~ Apnea around the world ~~
As of May 2, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. (-0500) (ET), the world population
was 6,777,286,604. Sleep researchers estimate approximately seven percent
of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Using that
estimate, there are potentially 474,410,062 apneics in the world.
