Weight loss of just 10-15% can reduce the severity of OSA by 50% in moderately obese patients. Unfortunately, while weight loss can provide meaningful improvements in OSA, it usually does not lead to a complete cure, and many sleep apnea patients need additional therapies.
If you have problems with OSA from being obese or overweight, weight loss can be an option to help manage your OSA. Losing as little as 5-10% of your body weight can improve or resolve OSA.
While there is no cure for sleep apnea, studies show that certain lifestyle factors can reverse or make your sleep apnea less intense. Other treatment or surgical options can also reverse the condition. Sleep apnea happens when your upper airway muscles relax while you sleep. This causes you to not get enough air.
If you undergo surgery, it will take several days to recover. If you are using CPAP, it will take some time before you notice the positive effects of the treatment. Averagely, the effects will start showing around three months, and full recovery can be up to a year.
Studies show that patients who develop sleep apnea before the age of fifty have a life expectancy between 8 and 18 years. Fortunately lifestyle changes, treatment, and other interventions can improve the life expectancy of someone with sleep apnea.
Carrying extra weight contributes to breathing problems during sleep, as fat or adipose tissues that line the neck cause narrowing of the air passages. For an overwhelming majority of patients (around 80%), just getting to a healthier weight is enough to make their sleep apnea go away.
Surgical opening in the neck, known as a tracheostomy.
Other types of surgery may help reduce snoring and sleep apnea by clearing or enlarging air passages, including: Nasal surgery to remove polyps or straighten a crooked partition between the nostrils, called a deviated septum.
Many children do outgrow sleep apnea
These tissues naturally shrink as children get older, and are much smaller in adults than in children. Because of this, even if nothing is done, many children will outgrow their sleep apnea symptoms.
There is good news. Upper airway stimulation therapy using a hypoglossal nerve stimulator is an option for people who are unable to tolerate their CPAPs. It's been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.
Foods to Avoid If You Have Sleep Apnea
People with sleep apnea are already at an increased risk of cardiovascular problems. Eating fatty or highly processed meats like bacon, sausage, salami, ham, and hot dogs can increase your chances of heart trouble.
Those with the sleep disorder can have increased insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes, weight gain, and the body storing more fat, especially belly fat. Sleep apnea may cause metabolic dysfunction through a few different pathways.
Notably, IGF-1 stimulates protein synthesis and maintains muscle mass. Our study and others have reported significant increases in IGF-1 in patients adherent to CPAP. Thus, the restoration of the GH axis and increase in IGF-1 in CPAP adherent patients likely contributed to weight gain and potential increase in LBM.
Sleeping on Your Side. Side sleeping is better for reducing sleep apnea than back sleeping. Research shows that in many cases, sleeping on your side can significantly reduce breathing disruptions. View Source from both OSA and CSA.
Benefits of Sleep Apnea Exercises
Tone the upper airway, neck muscles, and tongue to reduce airway collapse. Aid in overall weight loss, which has been shown to reduce OSA symptoms. Improve breathing by supporting lung capacity and clearing airways.
CPAP is the “gold standard” of sleep apnea treatment. The machines are typically covered by insurance. The CPAP is appropriate for moderate to severe sleep apnea, which oral devices may not be able to correct. Also available in smaller sizes for travel.
Bell's Advice for Overcoming OSA
As for equipment, Bell doesn't use the popular CPAP machine often prescribed for sleep apnea. Instead he uses a dentist-made device that moves his jaw forward and prevents his tongue from blocking his airway.
Obstructive sleep apnea is classified by severity: Severe obstructive sleep apnea means that your AHI is greater than 30 (more than 30 episodes per hour) Moderate obstructive sleep apnea means that your AHI is between 15 and 30. Mild obstructive sleep apnea means that your AHI is between 5 and 15.
In addition, your sleep apnea will change as the risk factors mentioned above change. For example, weight gain or getting older will worsen the condition, as will increased allergies in the spring, which will make nighttime breathing more difficult and exacerbate your symptoms.
Mortality in obstructive sleep apnea patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure is near to that of the general population, particularly when patients with an associated chronic respiratory disease are excluded.
There are also commonly known foods that cause inflammation and should be avoided according to Dr. May: “Foods that may aggravate sleep apnea include bananas, sugary processed foods, and fatty meats like burgers and sausage.”
Three months of CPAP therapy reduced the basal metabolic rate in the absence of changes in physical activity, thus favoring a positive energy balance in terms of energy expenditure.