Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (Greek for “want of breath”) is a breathing disorder that affects millions of people across the U.S. Sleep apnea causes a person to involuntarily stop breathing for a few moments during sleep. This can occur up to 30 times an hour, usually without the affected person even knowing.

What physically happens when someone has sleep apnea is the throat muscles and tongue that relax during sleep actually cause the airway to become blocked. Breathing then becomes difficult or noisy, which results in unsettled sleep and numerous side affects.

“When I had sleep apnea I was sweating so much during sleep that my pillow was absolutely drenched,” says CalorieKing.com member Butch Costello in describing his experience of sleep apnea. “I was also kicking my legs to the point where the sheets were no longer on the bed.”

As well as a disturbed sleep, other symptoms of sleep apnea include:

• daytime sleepiness
• loud snoring
• morning headaches
• recent weight gain
• a feeling of unrest upon waking up
• limited attention
• memory loss
• poor judgment
• lethargy
• edema (abnormal tissue swelling)
• high blood pressure

Older, obese men are at a higher risk for sleep apnea but as many as 40 percent of people with obstructive sleep apnea are not obese. Nasal obstruction, a large tongue, a narrow airway, and large neck are all common causes of obstructive sleep apnea.

When Butch was first diagnosed with sleep apnea he realized that his weight had a direct and negative impact on his condition. “The staff at the sleep clinic stressed the connection between obesity and sleep apnea and said that losing weight was one of the best things could do to improve my condition” says Butch.

Obesity and sleep apnea are often connected. People who are overweight often carry an excess amount of tissue in the airway causing it to be narrowed. The narrower airway combined with the tongue and throat muscle relaxation during sleep can often lead to apnea episodes.

Of course the flipside is that losing weight can dramatically improve sleep apnea, as Butch discovered when he lost 150 lbs over two years in an effort to bring his sleep apnea and other health problems such as diabetes under control. “All cases are different,” says Butch, “but there is no doubt that losing weight the way I did played a major role in helping me control sleep apnea.”

Obesity hypoventilation syndrome can also be a problem for obese people with sleep apnea. This condition occurs when a very obese person does not breathe a sufficient amount of oxygen during sleep or while awake.

Symptoms include all those usually associated with sleep apnea, as well as shortness of breath or fatigue after minimal physical effort, bluish coloration of the lips, fingers, toes or skin (cyanosis), and swollen legs or feet.

Sleep apnea doesn’t just give you a bad night’s sleep every now and then – it causes poor sleep almost all of the time, which has far-reaching consequences in many areas of life.

For example, a Stanford University study found that people with mild to moderate sleep apnea performed as badly, or worse, on reaction time tests than people who had blood alcohol levels of 0.08.

Fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, memory difficulties, sexual dysfunction and headaches are all associated with lack of sleep from sleep apnea.

If left untreated, sleep apnea is also associated with:

• High blood pressure (up to 50 percent of people who have sleep apnea also have high blood pressure)
• An irregular heartbeat
• Heart attack
• Stroke

One of the most dangerous consequences of sleep apnea is daytime sleepiness, usually experienced as “head-bobbing”.

“I think it’s tragic that some of us have been ‘head bobbing’ in our daily lives, in some cases when we’re behind the wheel of a car” says Butch. He goes on to describe what head bobbing feels like when driving.

“You fall asleep for a brief moment, head bob and then open the window while you are driving to get some air to wake you up.”

Not everyone who head bobs has sleep apnea, but people who do have sleep apnea are more prone to head bobbing as they are not sleeping well.

The tragic part of this sleep apnea symptom is it puts others in danger. A study by a sleep disorders clinic in Australia found that people with obstructive sleep apnea are up to fifteen times more likely to be involved in a traffic accident than people without the condition. This fact hit home for Butch when he discovered that the moderator of his sleep apnea support group had accidentally killed a young girl when he head bobbed while driving.

“I have come to realize that sleep apnea has deadly ramifications and can affect other people around you, not just yourself,” comments Butch.

If you think you might have sleep apnea, you should first see your primary care physician and arrange for a sleep test.

If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea there are a number of steps you can take to manage the condition.

• For people who are overweight, one of the best ways to treat sleep apnea is through weight loss. Studies show that when an overweight person loses 10 percent of their body weight, their sleep apnea episodes are reduced by up to 50 percent.
  
  
• Some people only suffer from sleep apnea while they are lying on their back. As a form of treatment, you can train yourself to not sleep on your back by attaching a tennis ball or other flexible object to the back of your pajama top.
  
  
• Medications are not generally a good answer for people suffering from sleep apnea. Sleeping pills actually make the condition worse and put the patient at risk because they diminish the brain’s ability to respond quickly when the patient stops breathing.
  
  
• A device called a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) uses a specially designed mask to prevent sleep apnea. The mask uses air pressure to stop the tissues in the back of the throat from collapsing.
  
  
• Dental appliances that reposition the lower jaw and tongue can also be helpful for people with mild or moderate sleep apnea.

There are also surgical procedures for dealing with sleep apnea which you can discuss with a primary care physician. However, even in these cases self-management in the form of weight control is still important for treating the condition.