Will Bariatric Surgery Help Your Sleep Apne?
Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts while a patient sleeps. There are two primary types of this condition: obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.
Central sleep apnea is the less common form of this condition. It is caused by the brain’s failure to send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. The condition occurs in people with medical problems that affect the brainstem, including infection, stroke or abnormalities involving the cervical spine.
Obstructive sleep apnea is far more common, occurring when the muscles at the back of the throat relax and narrow airways, making it more difficult to take in a full breath. A lack of oxygen then causes the brain to briefly wake the body so that a breath can be taken.
A small percentage of patients may have both conditions, which is called obesity hypoventilation syndrome. This condition involves poor breathing that leads to lower oxygen and higher carbon dioxide levels in the blood. Its cause is unknown, however, excess weight makes it harder for the chest muscles to draw deep breaths and breathe quickly enough.
Signs of obstructive sleep apnea include:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Loud snoring
- Abrupt awakening accompanied by gasping or choking
- Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat
- Morning headache
- Difficulty concentrating
- Mood changes, including depression or irritability
Several factors increase the risk of obstructive sleep apnea, with excess weight being the most common. Obese patients are four times as likely to suffer from this condition as those who are within a healthy weight range. In patients who are overweight, excess fat deposits can collect around the upper airways and constrict breathing.
Bariatric Surgery for Treating Sleep Apnea
Several different methods are available for the treatment of sleep apnea. However, weight loss is one that has proven especially effective in alleviating obstructive sleep apnea. By losing excess weight, many patients are able to open up their airways and experience easier breathing while they sleep.
Bariatric surgery assists patients in losing a significant amount of weight. Undergoing a weight loss procedure can also benefit patients in their treatment of this condition. Recent studies have shown that bariatric surgery, and the weight loss that follows, can alleviate sleep apnea as reduction in weight usually includes a reduction of fat surrounding the airways. A series of studies involving 13,900 bariatric surgery patients found that over 75 percent of participants reported seeing an improvement in their condition of obstructive sleep apnea after bariatric surgery.
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Excess weight can put a lot of stress on the body, resulting in health problems such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnea. Bariatric surgery alters the size of the stomach and restricts the amount of calories that can be absorbed to assist patients in losing the excess weight that is compromising their overall health.
Tijuana Bariatric Center offers a variety of bariatric procedures that dramatically improve weight loss results and often alleviate many health conditions. For many of our patients, sleep apnea is no longer a problem once they lose a significant amount of weight after bariatric surgery.
If you are interested in losing weight to alleviate sleep apnea, improve your health and enhance your quality of life, bariatric surgery can help. At Tijuana Bariatric Center, we have helped countless obese individuals shed excess weight and take control of their bodies through safe weight loss procedures To learn more about the bariatric procedures we offer and which one may be right for you, schedule a consultation at your earliest convenience.
Contact us via email or by calling 800-970-0577 for more information.
