There is a strong relationship between sleep apnea and obesity. As long as you gain weight, your neck gets thicker. When the level of fat from the throat increases, your airway is getting smaller.
The fat is located not within the wall of the airway but around it, and when the muscle tone is reduced during sleep the fatty tissue, in effect, massloads the airway and tends to collapse it.
The more fat in the throat, the more likely the airway is in danger to become blocked.
Obesity is the strongest risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea, when even small changes in weight can result in significant changes in upper airway collapsibility and severity of upper airway obstruction.
Of course, not everyone who is obese has sleep apnea, but chances are high.
In overweight people, the excess of fatty tissue on the abdomen causes abnormal weight that can interfere with the normal breathing.
So, the more overweight you are, the more difficult is to breath in sleep and you will worsen sleep apnea.
When sleep apnea is aggravated, you may feel more drowsy during the day. So, the excessive daytime sleepiness - an important symptom of sleep apnea - is getting worse, too.
If we sleep all day, we don't consume enough energy and so we become less active and gain more weight. In this way we aggravate our health situation harder .
is a type of sleep apnea that is associated with extreme obesity. This syndrome is the result of obesity on people that can't lose weight.
I hope I have explained quite clearly the link chain between sleep apnea and obesity.
Now you need to figure out how to...
Break the link between Sleep apnea and Obesity !
Firstly, you need to have a healthy sleep. This is very important. When a person sleeps less than 7 hours a night there is a dose-response relationship between sleep loss and obesity: the shorter the sleep, the greater the obesity.
Weight Loss
can eliminate sleep apnea, if obesity is one of the main causes. But we know that sleep apnea cause weight gain, because you sleep less at night and you are always drowsy every day.
It has been shown that weight loss can lead to an improved sleep efficiency, decreased snoring and improved oxygenation, but it will be very difficult to escape obesity as long as sleep apnea is untreated.
Treat sleep apnea first, so you will have better chances to have an effective weight loss.
Surgical weight loss, particularly
gastric bypass surgery,
is indicated only for severe obesity, where people cannot control their weight with traditional methods, such as lifestyle modification, pharmacotherapy or
alternative treatment.
This video explains more about obesity and sleep apnea :
You should know that
CPAP
is the most common treatment for sleep apnea. If you are overweight and have obstructive sleep apnea, then you should start your CPAP therapy as soon as possible.
You will have a more restful sleep and better energy level in day time. And then you can fight with obesity with less effort.
Of course, not everyone who is obese has sleep apnea, but chances are high.
