Obstructive Sleep Apnoea is Frequent in Overweight and Obese Patients, Study Shows

  • Posted in Sleep Apnoea
  •  By Loran Simon

patientsIs weight related to obstructive sleep apnoea? A new study provides evidence that being overweight or obese could predispose to sleep apnoea. This study, which was published in the July 2013 issue of Arch Bronconeumol, determined the frequency of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and metabolic syndrome (MS) in normal weight patients and their characteristics and compared these with overweight and obese patients.

The investigators studied patients with suspected OSA referred to their sleep laboratory from January to December 2009. These patients were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea when apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) was >5 and symptoms of this disorder were present. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. The patients were distributed into 3 groups according to body mass index (BMI): normal weight (<25kg/m2), overweight (25-29.9kg/m2) and obese (≥30kg/m2).

A total number of 475 patients were studied. About 7.6 % of them were of normal weight and about 56.4% were obese. Those who had normal weight were women, were snorers, were non-smokers and non-drinkers and were significantly younger and with a smaller neck and waist circumference than obese and overweight patients. The investigators also noted that there was a higher probability of metabolic syndrome as the BMI increased and that OSA was frequent in 70.52%. of obese patients, as compared to its frequency of 22% in patients of normal weight. Their findings also showed that there was no direct relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea and metabolic syndrome and between obstructive sleep apnoea in patients with normal weigh who have otorhinolaryngological malformations.

Thus the investigators concluded that obstructive sleep apnoea is more frequent in overweight and obese patients than in patients with normal weight. Thus patients who are overweight or obese should be evaluated for sleep apnoea as early as possible so that they will not suffer the medical consequences of this breathing disorder. Once sleep apnoea is diagnosed, overweight and obese patients should be treated with CPAP or other effective treatments as deemed suitable in their case. Weight loss is thus recommended for these patients.

Reference:

Dacal Quintas R, Tumbeiro Novoa M, Alves Pérez MT, Santalla Martínez ML, Acuña Fernández A, Marcos Velázquez P. Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in Normal Weight Patients: Characteristics and Comparison With Overweight and Obese Patients. Arch Bronconeumol. 2013 Jul 18.

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Prof. Ash is the inventor of the highly successful SOMNOWELL Chrome device for snoring and sleep apnoea.

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