Sleep Apnea: Weight Gain

First of all, sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder described as a person having pauses in their breathing while asleep or abnormally shallow breaths. The pauses can happen as many as thirty times during an hour and can last anywhere from a few seconds to a minute. There are two different kinds of the disorder, central and obstructive. Central is described as a lack of respiratory effort and obstructive is caused by a block in the breathing passageway.

All of this can seem pretty complicated. What you need to know is pretty easy. Because the disorder can only be properly diagnosed through an overnight study, many people have no idea that they suffer from it. The simple fact is people that suffer from the disorder can have many complications in their health from high blood pressure to obesity.

Good rest at night is restorative. The longer you are out, the more chances your body has to go through the process of restoring itself. For example, during phase three of R.E.M., or rapid eye movement, sleeping, the body is repairing bone and muscle structures and sending out necessary and healthy hormones. Most doctors believe that this period of sleeping can only be reached if you are asleep for seven or eight hours.

Doctors are also beginning to see and understand the connection between weight gain and lack of rest. More and more studies are proving that when you are not getting the adequate amount of sleeping time, your body when awake, will produce more of certain hormones. These hormones, like Grehlin, cause an increase in appetite, which eventually leads to weight gain.

This process of restorative sleeping may become more complicated by sleep apnea. You may think that you are getting the adequate seven or eight hours like prescribed. When in fact, due to central or obstructive causes, your sleeping time is interrupted. This means you never reach those restorative rapid eye movement stages of rest.

A diagnosis from an overnight study can help you better understand what is happening at night while you are asleep. You may think that you are just a mere snorer. It is possible that your snoring is nothing serious. However, you may find out, through a diagnosis from a proper overnight study, that sleep apnea is to blame for some of your chronic health problems.

Knowing that you suffer from this disorder can get you the treatment that you deserve. This treatment could jump start your diet and give you an increased chance of losing the weight you have worked hard to shed these past few years. You may find that your blood pressure can be positively affected through treatment as well. So much is affected by our sleeping patterns. Call and schedule an appointment at a sleep study clinic today if you think you may suffer from sleep apnea.