Effect of weight loss on sleep apne
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Effect of weight loss on sleep apne

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Posted by Captin Cannuck on May 01, 2008 at 09:14:09:

Some of you are wondering about weight loss.

1. Scope Studies of Weight Loss Patients in Vancouver Sleep and Breathing Centre
A few years ago a Vancouver BC doctor compiled a website showing scopes he had taken of obese patients who had undergone weight loss. The pharnygeal scopes show the effect on the fatty deposits inside the throat. You can see the widening of the airway in the same individual who had lost a certain amount of weight.

http://www.sleep-breathing.bc.ca/effects.htm#weightloss

2. Dr. Pascualy's Opinion (taken from book "Snoring and Sleep Apnea", Thrid Edition)
"Weight loss can be effective for people whose apnea is associaed primarily with their weight gain rather than anatomic obstruction of the airway (such as large tonsils etc.)...When effective weight loss works for two reasons. It releives the abormal loading on the abdomen that interfears with breathing reflexes and it reduces fatty deposits from the throat. However weight loss is only effective if:
1. Sufficient weight is lost*; and
2. The weight can be kept off permanently

Pascualy writes that "there may be a 'threshold' above which extra weight causes apnea symptoms and below which symptoms are releived". He goes on to state that "the medical literature is mixed in its reports about the effectiveness of weight loss, however it may be that the more weight lost the more likely it is that the person's apnea will improve".
[For more on this, see Pascualy, R. "Snoring and Sleep Apnea", Chapter 8]

My editorial note: Pascualy is refering to studies that have been published on people who have lost 10 percent or more of their body weight (e.g. people who have lost 30 pounds/12-15 kgs), etc. I have seen these studies. People can cut their AHI stat by 25%-50% by doing that.


3. Gastric Bypass:
In the book "Snoring and Sleep Apnea" written by Ralph A. Pascualy M.D., there is a lot of info about apnea patients who have lost weight. Pascualy refers to a study on morbidly obese patients who underwent gastric bypass. There was significant improvement in sleep apnea. In some patients symptoms disappeared entirely.

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