New Hope for Sleepless in Seattle (and everywhere else for that matter)
Body weight and sleep apnea, a medical condition where breathing stops for a few seconds, seem to go hand in hand. Roughly half of the 12 million Americans with sleep apnea are overweight but now a study has shown that any amount of weight loss helps improve symptoms and nearly 14 percent of those who lost an average of 24 pounds experienced complete remission1.
This makes sense because when people are overweight fat tissue can thicken the wall of the windpipe causing the inside opening to narrow and harder to keep open. Weight loss helps reduce the thickening of the windpipe allowing it to do its job, reducing breathing issues.
To access this research published by Gary Foster, et. al. in the September 28th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine click here.
- A Randomized Study on the Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea Among Obese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, G. Foster, et. al., Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(17):1619-1626.
To learn more about sleep apnea see this article on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute web site.
Submitted by Cindy Farricker, MS, RD, CDE
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