Snoring your way to obesity

SNORING and obesity go hand-in-hand and both can be indicators of severe health problems, said Dr Raymond Tan, a visiting doctor from Malaysia.

Dr Tan, a snoring surgeon and sleep medicine specialist, told The Brunei Times there was a close relationship between obesity and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) and that many patients could become easily caught in an "obesity OSA vicious cycle".

OSA is a clinical condition in which the upper airway collapses intermittently and repeatedly when in sleep, during which breathing stops completely or ventilation is reduced significantly, he explained.

"Most OSA sufferers typically have loud snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness and restless sleep."

"When a person has OSA, they are fatigued the next day which causes 'eating for stimulation'," said the visiting doctor who spoke during the Malaysian Healthcare Seminar at the International Convention Centre (ICC) on Friday.

"OSA sufferers eat more to get energy regardless of the number of hours they've slept. Since they hardly exercise due to fatigue, they put on more weight and the OSA worsens, resulting in vicious cycle," he added.

A person with OSA has seven times the increased risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident, 23 times increased risk of having a heart attack, and an increased risk of getting a stroke, developing hypertension and developing personality disorders.

"If an OSA sufferer is untreated, he or she may endanger themselves or others," he said, adding that in general, sleepy drivers cause 300 times more accidents than drunk drivers.

The Malaysian doctor explained, however, that treatment for OSA can be as simple as a modification of one's behaviour such as losing weight, avoiding alcohol or even sleeping on one's side. Along with these methods are medical and surgical options.

After treatment of OSA, Dr Tan said that patients report having slept better, they experience weight loss and even look younger. "A person's marriage and love life also improves because the sleeping partner is less disturbed by the loud snoring," he said.

Even simple snoring causes fatigue and tiredness, and it is a disturbance to others, said Dr Tan.

The Brunei Times