News and information about sleep apnoea and snoring
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The 1Oth Middle East Update in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery is the largest meeting of Otolaryngologists in the Middle East. I am delighted to have been invited back to speak for a second time about sleep apnoea, in a region where awareness of the condition is very low, but incidence is on the rise. The event is previewed in this month’s issue of Middle East Hospital magazine:
MEH March 2013 Middle East Otolaryngology article
Find out more here
Tags: diabetes, health, Middle East, obesity, Sleep, Sleep Apnoea, snoring
Lack of sleep can lead you to eat larger portions of high-calorie foods and increase your long-term risk of weight gain, according to a small new study. Swedish researchers asked 16 normal-weight males to choose their ideal portions of high-calorie meals and snacks. They did this when they had a normal night of about eight hours sleep and again when they went a night without sleep.
The participants chose larger portion sizes after the night with no sleep. They did this both before and after a breakfast, which suggests that sleep deprivation increases food intake regardless of whether a person feels full, said study author Pleunie Hogenkamp, of Uppsala University.
“Bearing in mind that insufficient sleep is a growing problem in modern society, our results may explain why poor sleep habits can affect people’s risk to gain weight in the long run,” Hogenkamp said in a university news release.
The study was published online Feb. 18 in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. In a previous study, the same team of researchers found that young, normal-weight men who went a single night without sleep had increased activation of a brain region involved in the desire to eat.
Although the study found an association between lack of sleep and increased appetite for high-calorie foods, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
Tags: Apnea, Apnoea, diabetes, health, obesity, Sleep Apnoea, snoring, tiredness
White-collared, globe-trotting executives over the age of 45 need to watch out for sleep apnoea, according to a recent study by the Madras ENT Research Foundation.
“Our estimates show that 24 per cent of men and 9 per cent of women above 45 years in the country suffer from this problem,” says Mohan Kameswaran, Managing Director of the foundation.
Those with obesity, diabetes and a sedentary lifestyle are more prone to sleep apnoea. Smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol and heavy snoring are other risk factors associated with this disorder. It is common among middle-aged working professionals.
“With intense travelling, they have very little time for physical activity and exercise. They do not maintain a good diet. When you are young, your muscle tone is good. But it slows down after 45,” cautions Kameswaran.
Tags: alcohol, CPAP, depression, diabetes, Erectile dysfunction, health, hypertension, Sleep Apnoea, smoking, snoring
Sleep-disordered breathing — which includes snoring and sleep apnea — isn’t just an adult condition: A new study from Finland shows that as many as one in 10 six-to-eight-year-olds may also have it.
The study, which was conducted by researchers from the University of Eastern Finland, included 512 kids from Finland between ages six and eight. The researchers examined their sleep disturbance status, as well as how their top and bottom rows of teeth fit together and their face shape (craniofacial morphology). Researchers found that being overweight and obese wasn’t linked with sleep-disordered breathing in kids, as it may be with older adults. Rather, craniofacial or dental issues seemed to be at play, according to the European Journal of Pediatrics study.
“If a child has symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing, his or her craniofacial status and dental occlusion need to be examined,” study researcher Tiina Ikävalko, an orthodontic specialist and a clinical lecturer at the university, said in a statement. “On the other hand, children with tonsillar hypertrophy, crossbite and convex facial profile should be examined to assess the quality of their sleep.”
The prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in kids found in this study is not too different from that previously reported by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, which said that snoring is commonplace in about 10 percent of all kids, and obstructive sleep apnea is prevalent in about 2 to 4 percent of kids.
Potential health risks from sleep-disordered breathing in kids include attention problems, bedwetting, increase in insulin resistance, increase in blood pressure, and even a decrease in growth hormone, the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery reported. Since enlarged adenoids and tonsils are a common cause for sleep-disordered breathing in kids, getting these removed could help to treat the condition for some.
See article on Huff Post website and 10 health risks associated with sleep apnoea
Tags: diabetes, health, hypertension, Sleep Apnoea, Sleep disorder, Sleep Disordered Breathing, Sleep research, snoring, tiredness
As the clocks turned back and British Summer Time (BST) came to an end, millions across the UK enjoyed the benefit of an extra hour in bed. But for many women, this extra hour provided little relief, with a growing number now being diagnosed with the sleep disorder OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnoea).
“A good night’s sleep is essential for our health and wellbeing. However, increasing rates of obstructive sleep apnoea amongst women are posing a significant threat to their quality of sleep, and potentially putting them at risk of serious health issues, including heart disease, stroke, depression and diabetes,” commented Judy Harris of the British Lung Foundation, which is campaigning for better awareness, diagnosis and treatment of people affected by OSA.
Traditionally viewed as a man’s disease, a recent study has suggested that among women aged 20-44, up to one quarter now have sleep apnoea, a figure which rises to more than half in women aged between 45 and 54, and 75 per cent in women aged between 55 and 70.
Whilst women have often been viewed as the ‘gatekeepers’ to their families’ health, and are often the first to recognise the signs and symptoms of sleep disorders in their husbands or bed-partners, increasingly they’re experiencing this debilitating disease for themselves, with symptoms including loud snoring, day time tiredness, poor concentration, headaches, depression and anxiety.”
With mounting evidence of sleep apnoea’s links to serious medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease and dementia, it’s vital that we move past the stereotypes that label OSA a ‘man’s disease’ and seek to raise awareness of this potentially deadly disease amongst women in the UK.
Tags: diabetes, health, hypertension, Sleep, Sleep Apnoea, tiredness, Women, women's health
Two studies that link the quality of sleep to the occurrence of erectile dysfunction and other urologic conditions were presented to reporters during the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).
The studies suggest that men with erectile dysfunction (ED) should be screened for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). After adjusting for age and other health conditions, patients with ED were more than twice as likely to have sleep apnoea than their normal counterparts.
This was the largest study to date to demonstrate a relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea and erectile dysfunction. Researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York evaluated 870 consecutively enrolled men through a cardiac screening program. Patients were screened for obstructive sleep apnea and erectile dysfunction through clinical questionnaires and were asked about their history of cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, diabetes and smoking. The mean age in the study population was 47.3 years, with a mean BMI of 30.2.
Sixty-three percent of patients in the study screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea, 5.6 percent had a history of diabetes, and 29 percent had a smoking history. The likelihood for having OSA increased as the severity of ED increased.
The good news for patients with both OSA and ED is that treatment for sleep apnea through continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP), together with drug therapy, has been shown to improve symptoms of ED.
Tags: Apnea, Apnoea, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, CPAP, diabetes, Erectile dysfunction, health, OSA, Sleep, Sleep Apnoea, smoking, snoring
Usual treatment options for diabetes
Continuing on the diet theme, Sarah Boseley reports in the Guardian today on a new piece of research from Newcastle University. Researchers there have discovered that a very harsh 600 calorie a day diet can reverse type 2 diabetes in some cases. 7 out of 11 participants in the study were free of diabetes after two months of the strict regime. Given the strong links between diabetes and sleep apnoea some further research into the impact (besides the benefits of weight loss) this diet may have on sufferers would be very welcome.
In the UK about two and a half million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, the large majority with type 2, and numbers are rising across much of the world. The condition has to be controlled with drugs and eventually insulin injections. It can cause blindness and end in foot amputation, as well as shortening life.
“To have people free of diabetes after years with the condition is remarkable – and all because of an eight-week diet,” said Roy Taylor, professor at Newcastle University, who led the study. “This is a radical change in understanding type 2 diabetes. It will change how we can explain it to people newly diagnosed with the condition. While it has long been believed that someone with type 2 diabetes will always have the disease, and that it will steadily get worse, we have shown that we can reverse the condition.”
The research, presented today at the American Diabetes Association conference, shows that an extremely low-calorie diet, consisting of diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables, prompts the body to remove the fat clogging the pancreas and preventing it from making insulin. However, as the study’s funders Diabetes UK warn, this diet should only be attempted under the supervision of a medical professional.
Tags: diabetes, diet, health, research, Sleep Apnoea, The Guardian
A new study published in the British Medical Journal this month has shown that a very low energy diet can have long-term benefits for sleep apnoea sufferers.
It is already known that obstructive sleep apnoea is associated with several adverse outcomes, including impaired cognitive function, vehicle crashes and occupational injuries, and death.
Randomised controlled trials have recently shown that weight loss improves obstructive sleep apnoea in overweight and obese patients. The long term effect of weight loss has been studied only in people with mild obstructive sleep apnoea and in older patients with type 2 diabetes.
“Of all people with obstructive sleep apnea, an estimated 60-70% are either overweight or obese,” writes Kari Johansson, PhD student in the Obesity Unit, Department of Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues. “Given the close association between obstructive sleep apnoea and obesity, weight loss has been advocated as a primary treatment option in obese patients with sleep apnoea…. Despite an improving case for the robust treatment effect of weight loss in obstructive sleep apnoea, concerns remain regarding the long term maintenance of improvements, especially after rapid weight loss with a very low energy diet.”
Study conclusions:
The initial improvements in apnoea-hypopnoea index after nine weeks of a very low energy diet (−58%) were largely maintained at the one year follow-up (−47%)
At one year, 48% (30/63) no longer required continuous positive airway pressure and 10% (six/63) had total remission of obstructive sleep apnoea
Patients who lost the most in weight or had severe sleep apnoea at baseline benefited most
Tags: Apnea, Apnoea, diabetes, diet, health, obesity, OSA, Sleep, Sleep Apnoea, tiredness, weight loss
Health24 website reports on a new preliminary study showing that Men who have type 2 diabetes in addition to obstructive sleep apnoea seem to benefit from a regular exercise regimen:
“Greater endurance from consistent physical activity can significantly boost survival rates for men with both conditions, researchers found. The findings are significant since the prevalence of sleep apnoea, which commonly occurs in people with diabetes and high blood pressure, is on the rise, the study authors noted.
“Recent findings suggest that patients with sleep apnoea have an increased risk of dying of any cause compared with individuals without sleep apnoea,” said study co-author Dr Skikha Khosla, an endocrinologist at the Washington, DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center and George Washington University. Good exercise capacity has already been linked to a lower risk of death in patients with type 2 diabetes, Khosla added. The new study found that there is a similar relationship in men who also have obstructive sleep apnoea.
“For the study, researchers analysed 567 male veterans averaging 62 years of age who completed exercise fitness testing between 1996 and 2010. Although people with sleep apnea should strive to get 150 to 200 minutes of physical activity each week, they should talk to their doctor before starting any exercise program and work towards that goal gradually, Khosla advised”
This study on the relationship between obesity and OSA has just been published on Sleep Scholar by the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Here is the abstract:
The belief that weight loss improves obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has limited empirical support. The purpose of this 4-center study was to assess the effects of weight loss on OSA over a 1-year period.
Tags: Apnea, Apnoea, diabetes, health, obesity, OSA, Sleep, Sleep Apnoea