Emerge CareHow are sleep apnoea and weight related?
Excess weight is a recognised risk factor for obstructive sleep apnoea, and the relationship runs in both directions.
Obstructive sleep apnoea happens when the airway repeatedly narrows or closes during sleep, interrupting breathing. Excess weight is one of the recognised risk factors, because tissue around the upper airway can contribute to that narrowing.
The relationship is not one-directional. Broken sleep affects the hormones involved in appetite and can make weight harder to manage, which is part of why the two are so often discussed together rather than separately.
Loud snoring, gasping during sleep, and daytime sleepiness despite enough hours in bed are the features usually described. It is diagnosed with a sleep study rather than from symptoms alone, and it is worth pursuing: untreated sleep apnoea is associated with cardiovascular risk, so this is not simply a snoring complaint.
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