Arch Inter Med 2001:161:102-106
Dixon JB, Schachter LM, O'Brien PE. Sleep disturbance and Obesity - Changes Following Surgically Induced Weight Loss.
Obesity is the major cause of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). OSA is a common disorder which takes its name from the Greek word apnea, meaning "without breath".
People with sleep apnoea literally stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, often for a minute or longer and as many as hundreds of times during a single night. It is usually associated with loud snoring and daytime sleepiness.
In this study of 313 severely obese patients undergoing gastric banding, the characteristics of sleep disturbance and the impact of weight loss were assessed. There was a high prevalence of significantly disturbed sleep in obese men (59%) and women (45%) and observed apnoea was found to be more common in men.
Following surgery the group lost an average of 48% of excess weight in the first 12 months. This was accompanied by a significant improvement in responses to all questions at follow-up, with habitual snoring reduced to 14% (pre-operative value 82%), observed sleep apnoea to 2% (pre-operative value 33%), abnormal daytime sleepiness to 4% (pre-operative value 39%) and poor sleep quality to 2% (pre-operative value 39%).
The authors conclude that obesity-related sleep disorders improve markedly with weight loss following lap-banding.
