Losing Weight Doesn’t Cure Sleep Apnea
Reported October 16, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A new study found while a strict diet and exercise program may benefit obese patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), it is unlikely to eliminate the condition.
Results show improvement in typical OSA symptoms including snoring, daytime sleepiness, impaired vigilance, poor quality of life and mood after the completion of a 16-week diet and exercise program. The average weight loss was about 27 pounds. Although the weight loss reduced the number of breathing pauses per hour of sleep, the change was not statistically significant.
“Although there was some improvement in sleep disordered breathing, it was not seen in all patients and was not proportional to the degree of weight loss,” Maree Barnes, Principle Investigator of the study and sleep medicine specialist at Austin Hospital was quoted as saying.
Researchers say weight loss should be combined with primary treatment for OSA because of the low success rate of dietary programs and the low cure rate by dietary approach alone. They recommend positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy as the treatment of choice for all severity levels of OSA.
SOURCE: Journal of the Clinical Sleep Medicine, October 15, 2009