Study: Losing weight can cure obstructive sleep apnea in overweight patients

For sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea

(OSA), losing weight is perhaps the single most effective way to reduce

OSA symptoms and associated disorders, according to a new study in the

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. (File

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Chinese media) -- For sufferers of

obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), losing weight is perhaps the single most

effective way to reduce OSA symptoms and associated disorders, according to a

new study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Weight loss may not be a new miracle pill or a fancy

high-tech treatment, but it is an exciting therapy for sufferers of OSA both

because of its short- and long-term effectiveness and for its relatively modest

price tag.

"Very low calorie diet combined with active lifestyle

counseling resulting in marked weight reduction is a feasible and effective

treatment for the majority of patients with mild OSA, and the achieved

beneficial outcomes are maintained at one-year follow-up," wrote Henri

Tuomilehto of the department of Otorhinolaryngology at the Kuopio University

Hospital in Finland.

The prospective, randomized trial found that, in 81

patients with mild OSA, the 40 patients who were in the intervention arm

underwent a diet that strictly limited caloric intake combined with lifestyle

counseling lost more than 20 pounds on average in a year -- and kept it off,

resulting in markedly lower symptoms of OSA. The 41 patients in the control arm,

who only received lifestyle counseling and lost on average less than 6 pounds,

and were much less likely to see improvements in their OSA.

And not only does sustained weight loss improve OSA,

it also improves the many other independently linked co-morbidities such as

hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

"This is emphasized by our findings that significant

improvements were found in symptoms related to OSA, insulin resistance, lipids,

and cardiorespiratory variables, such as arterial oxygen saturation, in patients

belonging to the intervention group," wrote Dr. Tuomilehto.

Furthermore, Dr. Tuomilehto observed, "The greater

the change in body weight or waist circumference, the greater was the

improvement in OSA."

In fact, mild OSA was objectively cured in 88 percent

of the patients who lost more than 33 pounds, a statistic that declined with the

amount of weight lost. Only in 62 percent of those who lost between 11 and 33

pounds were objectively cured of their OSA, as were 38 percent of those who lost

between zero and 11 pounds, and only 11 percent of those who had not lost weight

or who had gained weight.

"This appears to be a fairly straightforward

relationship, and while we would not necessarily recommend the severe caloric

restriction used in our study to every patient, one of the first treatment for

OSA that should be considered in the overweight patient is clearly weight loss,"

said Dr. Tuomilehto.