Extract from HEALTH AT LARGE/Fit4life/Malaysian Sunday Star newspaper 1/2/2009
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) [wah.... sounds ominously close to the "Official Secrets Act"] is defined as being "a clinical condition in which the upper airway collapses intermittently and repeatedly during sleep".
Being overweight or obese greatly increases one's risk of developing OSA. A person with OSA could bear the following inherent risks:
1. seven times increased risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident (reduced alertness/daytime sleepiness)
2. 23 times increased risk of having a heart attack
3. Increased risk of getting a stroke
4. Increased risk of developing hypertension
5. Increased risk of developing PERSONALITY DISORDERS !!!! (oh oh!)
6. Impaired congnitive function
7. Impaired sexual performance (whoa!!!!!)
Common features of OSA... typically a person with OSA will have loud snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, feeling of choking or shortness of breathe at night, restless sleep, un-refreshing sleep, changes in personality (impaired concerntration, anxiety, irritability, depression, forgetfullness) and nocturia (waking up to pass urine at night).
Oh mi gosh!
THE OSA -OBESITY CYCLE!
Obesity and OSA is closely interlinked and many are caught up in this vicious cycle.
When one has OSA, they are fatigued the next day and this may cause a phenomenon called "eating for stimulation". A tired and sleepless (unfulfilled sleep) OSA patient eat more to get energy because they feel tired regardless of whether they have had even 10 hours or more of sleep.
They also hardly or never exercise because they are already in a tired state from their OSA.
In time, because of the lack of exercise and increased eating, they put on more weight and their OSA worsens and the cycle turns around and around. So.... an overweight person may not be greedy when it comes to eating... they need more energy and they may not be lazy when they don't exercise. Often, they are victims of this OSA-Obesity vicious cycle.
note: Will appreciate feedback from anyone who suffers or thinks they are suffering from OSA. Is what's stated above accurate?
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I used to wonder what was waking my partner up from sleep rather frequently at night. Honestly, I battled with the thought that he was probably allergic to me or perhaps I snored (but I don't)!!
ReplyDeleteI had to find out. As any ordinary Babe-In-Total-Control-of-Herself would do, I carefully asked my partner if there was something bothering him from a restful sleep each night. Surprisingly he answered in a nonchalant manner, "can't sleep" and it was due to "stress at work". And you would buy that??!
I was determined to find out. (As Hokkiens would say, "bo kam buan")
So one night, I tried to stay attuned to his breathing (a.k.a snoring). Somehow, the snoring had gotten louder lately. Perhaps to drown the sound of my snoring?? What puzzled me was next was how the snoring sounded. Usually after the inhaling, there is the exhaling. Only thing was with his snores, there was only the inhaling-part of snoring. There was no exhaling. After a few seconds, my partner would then let out a little "whimper" alike a really soft cry.
I had to listen to it again. A few minutes later, the same process repeated. This time round, I could actually hear him trying to gasp for air.
The next morning, I was adamant to find out what these "little discoveries" were. I "Goggled" it and found it to be symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). We talked about the issue and decided perhaps it was due to stress. We wanted to let the "stress" period at work pass and wait to see id his “snoring” improved. We wanted to make sure it wasn’t OSA.
8 months later and after the "stress-free" period had passed, my partner’s sleep pattern continued. His non-breathing periods extended at an average of 45 seconds each time. His longest was 1 minute. During the day, he complained of tiredness and was particularly irritated with the simplest of things (which is unlike him).
Something had to be done and after much "nagging" (I got his mum's help!), we got ourselves admitted to a hospital and had a sleep study done on him. The results showed that he had stopped breathing more than 200 times throughout the night. His “record” - 93 seconds!
The article in the newspaper correctly identified the symptoms of OSA. It is a deadly condition during sleep if undetected. OSA is 95% - 99% a weight-related condition. My partner suffers from sinusitis, which just aggravates OSA even more.
So now, the doctor has recommended certain remedies for the condition - lose weight, lose more weight and lose a huge amount of weight, in addition to a sinuplasty (surgery) of the things for him to do.
Once he recovers from his sinuplasty, he'll start on a healthy meal plan - Healthpointe seems a great option as he loves his food. Will keep everyone posted in time.
Cheers,
Thankful-I-still-have-my-partner
Dear Thankful :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to our blog!!! Thank you for your feedback and sharing.
We do hope your partner's sinuplasty goes well and will certainly welcome him to our programme!!!
We have had many students whose snoring problems have stopped once they lost their weight.
All the best!!!!
Perfect Fit