The human body needs sleep. Although individuals have different sleep patterns, quality of slumber and sleep for varying amounts of time, sleep is a vital necessity for all. However, certain people suffer from sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous condition in which you're breathing repeatedly stops and starts, causing disturbances in your sleep. Eating a well-balanced, healthy diet and exercising regularly may improve your quality of sleep and eliminate your sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a commonly undiagnosed sleep disorder that occurs when you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths when you sleep. The lapses in breathing can last a few seconds to a few minutes and typically occur 5 to 30 times per hour. Once you begin breathing again, you may make a loud snort or choking sound. This cycle results in disruption of sleep as you move out of deep sleep and into light sleep when your breathing pauses.
Symptoms
Choking or gasping and chronic snoring are the hallmark of sleep apnea. Snoring may become worse over time to the point where you wake those around you. It is typically loudest when you sleep on your back and lessens when you roll to your side. Symptoms also include insomnia, waking with shortness of breath, urination at night, morning headaches, dry or sore throat and morning headaches. Poor sleep quality may result in excessive daytime sleepiness, memory and concentration problems and feelings of irritability, depression and mood swings. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to increased risk of high blood pressure, arrhythmias, diabetes, heart failure, stroke and obesity.
Risk Factors
Sleep apnea appears to most commonly affect men, older individuals, African Americans, Hispanics and Pacific Islanders. Other risk factors include hypertension, narrow airways, excessive alcohol, sedative or tranquilizer use, neck circumference, smoking, heart disorders, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and family history. Perhaps one of the most important risk factors is excess weight. Fat deposits around your upper airways bulk up tissues, causing obstructed breathing and increased vulnerability to collapsed muscles during sleep. According to the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, millions of Americans suffer from sleep apnea, and more than half of those people are overweight. Unfortunately, sleep apnea may also contribute to weight gain.
Appetite Hormones
One significant factor affecting sleep apnea is the association between sleep and hormones. Many hormones throughout your body are affected by sleep, as they follow a characteristic 24-hour cycle. According to John Cline, Ph.D., in "Sleepless in America," leptin and ghrelin are implicated in the effects of sleep on weight. Together, these hormones work to control appetite. Ghrelin is released by the gastrointestinal tract to stimulate appetite while leptin is released by fat cells to signal to the brain that you are full. When you suffer from sleep apnea, your leptin levels decrease while your ghrelin levels increase. As a result, you will feel both hungry and less satisfied after eating. Inadequate sleep leads to weight gain that contributes to sleep apnea; this in turn results in poor sleep. Thus, a vicious cycle is initiated.
Importance of Diet
Charles Barkhead, in "Diet May Contribute to Obstructive Sleep Apnea," discusses the role that diet plays in sleep apnea. He explains that patients with severe disordered breathing consume significantly more fat, cholesterol, saturated fat and protein compared with individuals with less disturbed sleep. Sleep apnea has a strong association with obesity and thus an increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Even a slight loss in excess weight can help relieve sleep apnea disorders and thus prevent these chronic conditions.
References
- MayoClinic.com; Sleep Apnea; June 2010.
- "Physiology Today"; Sleepless in America; John Cline, Ph.D.; August 2010
- "MedPage Today"; Diet May Contribute to Obstructive Sleep Apnea; Charles Bankhead; October 2008.
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; What is Sleep Apnea; August 2010.
- US News Health; 7 Things That Make Sleep Apnea Worse; Lindsay Lyon; August 2009.
