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