Posted by westernjoe on May 06, 2008 at 10:42:14:In Reply to: Effect of weight loss on sleep apne posted by Captin Cannuck on May 01, 2008 at 09:14:09:
Interesting discussion.
I personally know 2 people who get off cpap when they drop 20-30#. But the cycle of loss and gain continues as does their cpap usage.
I'm sure that weight gain, and distribution of fat which varies person-to-person, can and does have a negative and under-appreciated effect on apnea.
I'm also sure the relationship is not linear. If graphed, I bet there is a small linear region where body weight results in increasing AHI, but then flattens out, both above and below this region. A simpler way of putting it would be, once your weight gets to a certain level, AHI would start to increase rapidly up to a ceiling. Where this region is depends on the person, existing narrowing of the airway, and the natural places their bodies distribute fat. We've all see overweight people who have relatively normal necks, and normal-weight people who have a lot of fat packed around their necks.
RA in TX