You have been snoring for years, but never sought treatment. Today, the same snoring has to lead to a more serious condition called sleep apnea. In all likelihood, you are also overweight and this could be one of the primary causes that pushed you to this distressing sleeping disorder.
Sleep apnea and weight loss are a concept that you would hear from anyone who is thinking of treating sleep apnea, which could be a life-threatening condition. It involves the cessation of breathing for about 10 seconds or more and may recur 5 to 30 times in a night. Stopping to breathe also means losing out on a precious oxygen supply to the brain and this can have disastrous consequences if left untreated.
So when you go to a sleep doctor to cure sleep apnea, the first thing your doctor tells you is to lose weight. You may be wondering how your obesity is interfering with your breathing. Here is how:
Sleep apnea and weight loss:
When you are overweight, it does not necessarily mean that you are obese around your abdomen. The excess fat around your neck and throat are also major contributors to your obesity. Of all the problems that obesity invites, the excess amounts of fat tissues around your neck and throat make the breathing passage narrow. Moreover, such tissues may get relaxed and collapse while you are asleep.
Obstructive sleep apnea or OSA, the more common type of sleep apnea is caused when there is a complete collapse of such muscles and breathing is completely jeopardized by the blockage such collapse creates in the air passage.
With this explanation of sleep apnea as the backdrop, it is easy to see the critical association the disorder has with body weight. This means that to cure sleep apnea, you might get the best results if you start on a feasible and practical weight loss program.
Sleep apnea and weight loss:
One of the most redeeming features of sleep apnea treatment is that there are plenty of simple and easy-to-do sleep apnea exercises that would be invariably recommended by the doctor treating you for this condition, along with recommendations for losing weight. The good news is that almost all these sleep apnea exercises can be incorporated into your daily workout schedule and can be done simultaneously.
But what are these sleep apnea exercises? Essentially, these exercises are designed in such a way that they focus primarily on the muscles of the neck, throat, nose, and mouth. These include tongue curling, chewing gum sticks, or even practicing singing to exercise the vocal cords. As is clear, such exercises can easily be done while you are jogging, walking, cycling, or doing any other kind of physical workout aimed at weight loss.
Sleep apnea and weight loss:
Excessive body weight has been identified as the root cause behind several health disorders and sleep apnea is one such sleep problem that can have fatal consequences if left uncontrolled or uncured. Controlling sleep apnea and weight loss program inclusion can be a feasible option for you if you want to cure this dangerous ailment.
Thank you for the read. Cash!