Weight Loss for Mild Sleep Apnea

Sleep Disorders

Weight Loss for Mild Sleep Apnea

Weight loss plus lifestyle counseling was effective for most patients with mild sleep apnea.

Observational studies indicate that weight loss has salutary effects on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Now, Finnish researchers have conducted a randomized trial to examine the effect of weight loss on mild OSA.

The trial involved 81 overweight adults (body-mass index, 28–40 kg/m2) with mild OSA (apnea-hypopnea index, 5–15 events/hour). The intervention group received individualized very-low-calorie diet products (600–800 calories daily) with lifestyle counseling for 12 weeks, followed by less-stringent low-fat diets; the control group received general dietary information.

At 12 months, mean weight loss was significantly greater in the intervention group than in the control group (10.7 kg vs. 2.4 kg). The mean apnea-hypopnea index declined from about 10 events per hour at baseline to 6.0 in the intervention group and 9.6 in the control group — a significant difference. Moreover, the index dropped into the "normal" range (<5 events/hour) in 63% of intervention patients and in 35% of controls. For various subjective outcomes (e.g., quality of life, snoring, daytime sleepiness), trends consistently favored the intervention group, but most differences did not reach statistical significance.

Abstract