Sleep Tech Tip of the Week

by Angela Terry, RPSGT

Sleep apnea is one of the most common, yet most under-diagnosed disorders among the population. A more obvious health concern is obesity.  All types of people are battling obesity and many are failing. There could be an underlying reason that even some doctors, are not considering.  The most prevalent risk factor for sleep apnea is obesity but could sleep apnea be a risk factor for obesity? My answer is yes. Here’s why….

From my first day in the sleep lab in 2001, our patients were well over two hundred and fifty pounds, some reaching as much as six hundred. These people were experiencing all types of issues secondary to obesity so were ordered by their doctors to lose weight. The weight loss order was easier said than done. Patients were struggling to eat right while exercise was an even bigger challenge, due to their size. Even the ones that were complying with these regimens were seeing very little, if any, progress.  It wasn’t until they received their CPAP machine and treating their sleep apnea that certain people were able to start losing weight. Interesting to say the least, but why?

As I moved on with my career, learned a little more and saw a variety of different patients, I finally realized that sleep apnea was actually preventing these people from losing weight. The first and most obvious is that resolving sleep apnea would immediately give the patient more energy and stamina to function throughout the day. Less napping and more physical activity is a plus when trying to burn calories. Many studies have shown that disruptions in your sleep cycle would prevent certain chemicals and hormones, needed to balance metabolism, from being released. Most of these releases only happen during deep sleep so if missed during the night, the body never gets the chemicals needed to burn fat and calories during the day.  Growth hormones, which are needed to repair and restore fat burning muscles during the night, are inhibited from being released in the same way. So, if your metabolism is not burning fat and your muscles aren’t able to burn fat, without a proper sleep cycle, your body is not able to burn fat.

Being employed in a weight loss surgery center is an ironic blessing, making it possible for me to share my nine years worth of experiences. Weight loss is easy for some people and impossible for others.  I knew there had to be a reason. Now that I have learned that a person’s sleep cycle has everything to do with healthy body functions, I want the world to know.

If you have been dieting and exercising all month to find that you have only lost one pound, sleep apnea may be to blame. Not only does a proper sleep cycle help your body to meet your weight loss goals, but feeling restored, refreshed and full of life is worth the trip to the sleep lab. Sleep apnea is a big deal and they don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing.

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Tags: obesity, sleep apnea, sleep disorder, sleep study, weight loss