Sleep Apnea due to weight gain (Research Paper Sample)

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Sleep Apnea due to weight gain
Introduction
Sleep apnea is one of the growing disorders in the United States. Sleep scientists have categorized three types of sleep apnea, which include central, obstructive, and mixed sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea, which is not very common, is characterized by cessation of airflow that results from termination of respiratory effort causing loud snoring. Obstructive apnea is characterized by cessation of airflow despite persistent respiratory efforts, which often lead to loud snoring. On the other hand, mixed sleep apnea is a combination of central and obstructive sleep apnea, and it is characterized by the occurrence of central apnea in the early phase and obstructive apnea in the last phase. In a vast majority of patients, the obstructive type of apnea is the most predominant. The degree of severity of sleep apnea can range from mild to severe at night, but it is influenced by the type of sleep apnea and the duration of apneic episode.
Sleep apnea has been around since time immemorial, but it has recently been described as fatal. According to Pascualy (54), 20 million Americans are estimated to have sleep apnea. Among those aged 30 to 60 years old with the disorder, include 1 of every 4 men and 1 of every 10 women. Although the disorder is known to occur to anybody, in any age, and any sex, the findings suggest that it is more prevalent in men than women. More middle aged men are known to suffer from sleep apnea more than the middle aged women. However, other findings suggest that overweight people are more likely to develop obstructive sleep. Around 80% of patients with obstructive apnea are overweight, and the disorder itself is exacerbated by obesity. In fact, the risk is often lower in those maintaining a stable body, and thus, health specialists urge on the reduction of body weight sometimes to reduce the severity of obstructive sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea and weight gain
Sleep Apnea is a disorder in which a person stops breathing, sometimes partially or completely, over and over again, when sleeping. The partial breathing interruptions may last for several seconds or even minutes long. The obstruction is relieved in a minute or less, allowing the person to fall asleep again. If the interruptions are long enough, they disturb the normal sleep pattern causing awakening, non-restful sleep and a drop in the level of oxygen in the blood. This disorder is linked with weight gain and obesity as well as characterized by poor quality of sleep. Poor quality of sleep results to obstructions and repeatedly cutting off breathing that leads to loud snoring. For these reasons, obesity is believed to cause sleep difficulties because of the excess weigh it places to the lungs. Excess weight leads to increased fat around the abdomen making it difficult for the lungs to expand, contract and take a full breath.
Snoring is very common with obese people, and it is often described as loud and constant. A spouse or a bed partner may have observed a sleeping person who snores loudly, becomes quiet, and then starts breathing again with a gasp or a snort. This is the typical description of a person with obstructive sleep apnea, which is known to result from increased fat around the neck increasing pressure on airways. In severe cases, one can have more than a dozen episodes of breathlessness every hour, exhaustion during the day, and recurrent awakening. Other major symptoms experienced by sleep apnea patients include constant fatigue, moodiness, morning headaches, excessive sleep and restlessness among others. Thus, people should pay close attention to the key symptoms including weight gain and snoring, because they are overly overlooked. If detected early, effective treatment should help to avoid long-term adverse effects.
In regard to the link between weight gain and sleep apnea, it is also argued that both conditions are likely to influence each other. This implies that weight gain and obesity can influence sleep apneas and vice versa. It is possible that weight gain and obesity can pave the way to the development of the disorder, and the consequence of the disorder can lead to obesity and weight gain. Chokroverty (21) argues that obesity is the common risk factor that predisposes a person to sleep apnea, with the number of the patients with the disorder approximated to 70%. When one gains weight, they are more likely to gather more fatty tissue deposits in the body. These fatty deposits of tissues in the throat are said to naturally narrow the airways of breathing leading to sleep apnea disorder. Thus, it makes it possible to snore more and louder because of the narrow airways, leading to disturbance in sleep. In most cases, doctors refer people having problems of obesity to sleep specialists. This is because of the strong link between obesity and sleep apnea.
On the other hand, sleep apnea may contribute to obesity, although this is less well established. The daytime symptoms of the disorder include excessive sleep and fatigue, moodiness, lack of concentration and inactivity. Individuals with the disorder become less active, resulting to decreased energy expenditure. Thus, there are high chances that people with the disorder gain the most weight because of physical inactivity. Sleep apnea tends to lower the level of leptin, a hormone in the body that suppresses appetite. Furthermore, the disorder increases the level of Grehlin, a hormone that increases food intake and regulates body weight. This causes an imbalance between necessity and consumption of food causing more pounds to pile on. Much evidence has been provided in support that the sensitivity to an appetite suppressing hormone, leptin, is reduced, causing increased appetite and weight gain (Shiromani et al., 172). This sensitivity can only return only after treatment. Therefore, it is possible that sleep apnea reinforces weight gain by creating a vicious cycle and imbalance.
Sleep apnea may sometime run in a family, especially if the family has a history of obesity, alcoholism, high blood pressure and minor abnormalities among others. These risk factors can easily be inherited, and they have been used by health specialists to explain the high occurrence of the disorder in families. Researchers hold that there are genes in families that cause upper airways abnormalities and obesity increasing the risk for developing the disorder in a family. Thus, families with obese family members and who have suffered from sleep apnea should be more careful for being at the heightened risks.
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