The objective of a Sleep AHEAD Study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine Vol. 169 No. 17, September 28, 2009, was to assess the effects of weight loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) over a 1-year.
Does your family have a history of snoring and sleep apnea? Learn the symptoms at http://www.ihatecpap.com. Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, is a disorder in which the tissues at the back of the throat temporarily collapse during sleep, causing repeated stops and starts in breathing during the night. This leads to poor-quality sleep and, often, daytime drowsiness.
Methods: The study included 264 participants with type 2 diabetes and a mean (SD) age of 61.2 (6.5) years, weight of 102.4 (18.3) kg, body mass index (BMI) (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 36.7 (5.7), and an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 23.2 (16.5) events per hour. The participants were randomly assigned to either a behavioral weight loss program developed specifically for obese patients with type 2 diabetes (intensive lifestyle intervention [ILI]) or 3 group sessions related to effective diabetes management (diabetes support and education [DSE]).
Results: The ILI participants lost more weight at 1 year than did DSE participants (10.8 kg vs 0.6 kg; P < .001). Relative to the DSE group, the ILI intervention was associated with an adjusted (SE) decrease in AHI of 9.7 (2.0) events per hour (P < .001). At 1 year, more than 3 times as many participants in the ILI group than in the DSE group had total remission of their OSA, and the prevalence of severe OSA among ILI participants was half that of the DSE group. Initial AHI and weight loss were the strongest predictors of changes in AHI at 1 year (P < .01). Participants with a weight loss of 10 kg or more had the greatest reductions in AHI.
If you have sleep apnea or disruptive snoring and do not tolerate CPAP, I HATE CPAP wants to help you find answers go to http://www.IHateCPAP.com. This online sleep medicine resource promotes sleep medicine and emotionally connects with patients who have abandoned CPAP treatment due to negative experiences or prefer to explore an alternative to cpap.
To discuss a dental alternative to CPAP with an experienced sleep apnea dentist in your area, visit the “Find a Doctor” section at http://www.ihatecpap.com/
