My Life and Sleep Apnea

We all know about the connection between being overweight and having sleep apnea . Your chances of having sleep apnea are much greater if you are overweight and if you lose weight it probably will make the sleep apnea less severe. It wouldn’t cure it but it will help. But what if you are a candidate for Gastric Bypass Surgery , are there any problems if you are a sleep apnea patient? According to WebMD.com Gastric Bypass Surgery is “combines the creation of a small stomach pouch to restrict food intake and construction of bypasses of the duodenum and other segments of the small intestine to cause malabsorption (decreased ability to absorb calories and nutrients from food).” There are risks involved in this type of surgery such as the band that is tightened around the stomach may erode, the stomach pouch may get bigger and leakage of stomach acid into the other organs. This is just a few of the things that could go wrong. So it is a serious operation. For those with obstructive sl...

I have read quite a bit on sleep apnea and truck drivers . There have been many tragic accidents involving drivers who have fallen asleep causing fatal wrecks. It seems that some trucking agencies are being proactive and testing their drivers for sleep apnea and paying for their cpaps if needed. I think this is a great idea. But why stop at truck drivers? With Americans gaining more and more weight every year, sleep apnea is becoming more prevalent. Sleep studies, cpaps, dental devices and all things related to sleep apnea have become big business. Testing should available to people who fall in the high risk category of sleep apnea. Although being overweight is a major cause of sleep apnea it isn’t the only cause. Remember you can be thin and have sleep apnea. Other factors such as an enlarged tongue or the structure of your face can cause obstructive sleep apnea. And of course there is central sleep apnea , although rare, which has nothing to do with body size. Hopefully the ...