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Is Weight Loss Cured My Sleep Apnea?

Overview

A common yet dangerous sleep disorder, sleep apnea is characterized by frequent breathing pauses while you’re asleep. Millions of people are impacted globally, and it raises the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses in addition to causing poor sleep and daily weariness. Being overweight is one of the biggest causes of sleep apnea, especially obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Several people’s sleep disorders can be significantly improved or even cured by losing weight. Losing weight improves airflow and lowers the frequency of apnea episodes by lowering fat deposits around the neck and upper airway. The relationship between weight reduction and sleep apnea is examined in this introduction, which also provides information on how medical treatments and lifestyle modifications might enhance general health and sleep quality.

Can Sleep Apnea Be Cured By Losing Weight?

There is no cure for sleep apnea, although there are numerous treatment alternatives. But only if you have obstructive sleep apnea will losing weight help some people with their sleep apnea symptoms.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and sleep apnea with central obstruction (CSA) are the various types of sleep apnea. 84% of sleep apnea diagnoses are for obstructive sleep apnea, which is the most prevalent type.

You stop breathing when you have obstructive sleep apnea because of an obstruction that prevents air from reaching your lungs. Some persons have airway narrowing and blockage when they sleep due to the weight of their neck. Losing weight would improve airway blockages and airway collapsibility if such were the case.

Just a 15-20% weight loss can result in a 55% reduction in the severity of OSA in patients who have become barely obese. However, although decreasing weight can greatly improve OSA, many people with sleep apnea still need additional treatments, and it frequently contributes to a full recovery.

The Benefits Of Losing Weight For Sleep Apnea

  • Decrease in Fat Deposits Around the Neck: Being overweight frequently causes fat to build up around the throat and neck. The airway may get narrowed as a result, increasing the likelihood that it will collapse as you sleep. Weight reduction improves the passageway and reduces the accumulation of fat.
  • Lower Abdominal Fat: Especially at night, abdominal fat can put pressure on the diaphragm and decrease lung volume, making breathing more difficult. Losing weight can reduce this pressure and enhance breathing.
  • Better Inflammation and Muscle Tone: Chronic inflammation, which is linked to obesity, can make sleep apnea worse. Losing weight lowers the risk of collapse by improving airway muscle tone and lowering inflammation.
  • Decreased Risk of Other Health Problems: Comorbid diseases including high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, which are frequently connected to sleep apnea, can also be prevented by losing weight.

How Can Someone With Sleep Apnea lose weight?

Some treatment aspects, such as significant lifestyle changes, can lead to achievement.

The techniques that typically yield the best results include:

  • behavioral therapy
  • calorie-restricted diet
  • increased exercise or physical activity

Aim for a healthy diet of roughly 1,200–1,500 calories per day for women and 1,500–1,800 for men if you alter your food intake.

Choose a diet that you will probably stick to and enjoy. The key to losing weight is not what you eat, but cutting back on the average caloric consumption. For general health, it is advantageous to keep up a healthy, balanced diet.

The remaining suggestions consist of:

  • Create a healthy, long-term weight loss target, often 1-2 pounds each week.
  • Try to eat multiple times every day while preventing absences from food.
  • Pay particular attention to how many calories you consume.
  • Limit or stay away from highly processed foods and give priority to 
    whole foods like fruits and vegetables. They may contain a lot of sugar and added substances.
  • Be sure to stay hydrated.
  • Avoid rid of or use fewer high-calorie condiments and sauces.

Your doctor can suggest either surgery or medication if you must reduce a substantial amount of body weight and all initiatives to do so have failed.

Success Of Treatment And Long-Term Care

A lot of individuals can successfully control or potentially cure insomnia or sleep apnea with the right care. Even while they don’t cure the problem, treatments including weight loss, oral appliances, or CPAP therapy can greatly reduce symptoms.

When you have sleep apnea, losing weight might greatly help your condition because being overweight, especially around the neck, can impede your airway as you sleep. Here are some doable methods for controlling sleep apnea and losing weight:

Prioritize Treating Sleep Apnea

  • Use CPAP or APAP Therapy: By keeping your airway open, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or automatic positive airway pressure (APAP) devices help you sleep better and have more energy. Your capacity to exercise and choose healthier foods can both be improved by getting more sleep.
  • Consider Oral Appliances: See your doctor about using oral devices that your jaw to avoid airway blockage if CPAP isn’t appropriate.

Eat a Well-Balanced Diet

  • Emphasis on entire Foods: Consume fruits, vegetables, entire grains, and lean proteins. Limit sugary snacks, processed foods, and saturated fats.
  • Calorie Deficit: Eat fewer calories than you expend to create a moderate calorie deficit, but stay away from drastic diets that may interfere with your metabolism.
  • When to Eat: Stay away from large meals Reflux can exacerbate the symptoms of sleep apnea, so try to avoid it two to three hours before bed.

Add Frequent Exercise

  • Aerobic Exercise: Exercises that increase cardiovascular health and burn calories include swimming, cycling, and walking.
  • Start Slow: If you’ve never worked out before, start with low-impact exercises and work your way up to more strenuous ones as your fitness level increases.

Increase Your Sleep Quality

  • Maintain a Schedule: Make sure you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, except for days off.
  • Create a Conducive Sleeping Environment: Keep your sleeping quarters quiet, peaceful, and cool.
  • Avoid alcohol and sedatives: As they might exacerbate sleep apnea by relaxing the muscles in the throat.

Keep in Mind the Monitor Development

  • Track Weight Loss: Keep track of your food consumption, activity, and weight fluctuations using a journal or app.
  • Frequent Checkups: As you lose weight, see your physician or sleep specialist to see if your sleep apnea has improved.

Think About Obtaining Professional Help

  • A dietitian or nutritionist: can create a customized meal plan based on your requirements and tastes.
  • A sleep specialist: can keep an eye on your health and modify your treatment plan as necessary.
  • Behavioral therapy: behavioral health problems that prevent weight loss, among them disorders of appetite.

Summary

There is a direct correlation between being overweight and sleep apnea. Maintaining a moderate weight can often alleviate the symptoms of sleep apnea, according to the majority of doctors. Before starting an exercise regimen for weight loss, it is crucial to consult a physician.

Healthcare providers can offer individualized advice that takes into account a person’s various medical conditions as well as a safe, healthy weight loss plan. Doctors may suggest the most effective treatment, which includes using CPAP, in addition to weight loss.

FAQs

Can losing weight cause sleep apnea to go away?

Patients who are somewhat obese can have a 50% reduction in the severity of their OSA with only a 0-15% weight decrease. Sadly, losing weight can significantly improve OSA, but it results in a full recovery, and many people with sleep apnea require further treatments.

What is the most effective way to treat sleep apnea?

A continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine is a device that a medical professional may recommend to stop snoring and avoid sleep apnea. An appropriate level of air pressure is provided to a mask by CPAP equipment to keep the upper respiratory tracts open and prevent coughing and sleep apnea.

Can sleep apnea be cured by losing weight?

Even though there are several alternatives to therapy for sleep apnea, there is a cure currently unknown. But only if you have obstructive sleep apnea will losing weight help some people with their sleep apnoea symptoms.

How can sleep apnea be permanently resolved?

When treatments focus on the root anatomical asymmetry that is causing the problem, sleep apnea can usually be healed.
Adult Sleep Apnea Treatment Challenges: Tonsillectomy
Hyoid Suspension Surgery.
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Machine
Surgery known as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP)

What relation exists between sleep apnea and weight?

Obesity and sleep apnea are frequently associated because excess fat around the neck and throat region can restrict airways as you sleep. Being overweight increases the amount of tissue around the upper airway, which can constrict it and result in apnea episodes and snoring. Losing weight can help to improve airflow and ease the obstruction by reducing fat in this location.

References

  • Can losing weight cure sleep apnea? Weight loss FAQ – ResMed. (2023, June 5). Sleep Apnea. https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apnea/sleep-blog/frequently-asked-questions-on-weight-loss-and-sleep-apnea/
  • Pacheco, D., & Pacheco, D. (2024, April 30). How weight affects sleep apnea. Sleep Foundation.https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-apnea/weight-loss-and-sleep-apnea
  • Edwards, J. M. (2024, March 19). How Much Does Weight Loss Help with Sleep Apnea? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea-weight-loss#weight-loss-tips
  • West, M. (2022, May 31). Can losing weight help people with sleep apnea?https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/sleep-apnea-weight-loss
  • American Thoracic Society. (2020). Weight loss and sleep apnea. In American Thoracic Society PATIENT EDUCATION INFORMATION SERIES. https://www.thoracic.org/patients/patient-resources/resources/weight-loss-and-sleep-apnea.pdf

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