Apnea: Weight loss may help

By: By Linda Searing | THE WASHINGTON POST
Published: November 18, 2009

The question: Might losing weight improve the disturbed breathing known as obstructive sleep apnea?

This study: It involved 264 obese people, all with diabetes, who were randomly assigned to an intensive weight-loss program or a diabetes education and management program. About three-quarters of them had mild or moderate sleep apnea, and the rest had more severe cases. The weight-loss group followed a strictly regulated diet and exercised moderately for about three hours a week; the others attended three informational sessions on diet, physical activity and social support.

After a year, those in the weight-loss group had lost, on average, 24 pounds, compared with an average one-pound loss for the others. The percentage of those in the weight-loss group who still had severe apnea was about half that of those in the other group. Overall, sleep apnea disappeared in about 14 percent of the weight-loss group and 4 percent of the others, and it worsened in those whose weight remained fairly stable in that year.

Who may be affected? Obese people with obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs when breathing temporarily stops or becomes very shallow, severely disrupting sleep. In the United States, about 12 million people -- men more than women -- have the disorder, and about half of them are overweight.

Caveats: Participants ranged from 45 to 75 years old; whether the findings would apply to younger people remains unclear. They also might not apply to people without diabetes.

Find this study: Sept. 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Learn more: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health and www.sleepeducation.com (click "sleep disorders").