If you have sleep apnea, you may rarely --- or never --- be able to say that you got a good night's sleep. Yet sleep is an essential activity; it affects learning, memory, mood and overall health. There is also some evidence that inadequate sleep may be related to weight gain.
About Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition in which you breathe shallowly or even stop breathing during sleep. It can result from the collapse or obstruction of the airway --- obstructive sleep apnea or OSA --- or it can be central sleep apnea, a condition in which the brain does not send the correct signals to breathe. Both kinds can occur together. Loud snoring is a feature of OSA but not central sleep apnea, but in either kind it is common for the sleeper to partially awaken. This pattern of coming partially awake is repeated all night long, preventing the body from staying in deep sleep and leading to a feeling of being tired all the time. Sleep apnea can increase the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, obesity and diabetes, not to mention work-related or driving accidents from lack of sleep.
About Metabolism
In looking at the connection between sleep apnea and metabolism, it is important to understand the difference between metabolism and glucose metabolism. The two terms are not interchangeable, although they have some similarities. Metabolism is the overall process by which complex molecules are broken down to produce energy and vice versa. For example, when you eat food, the body breaks it down into individual molecules that can then be used to create muscle tissue. Glucose metabolism is one component of total metabolism --- the process by which carbohydrates are broken down into sugar or glucose for use by the body's cells.
Sleep Apnea and Metabolism
Sleep apnea is definitely connected to Type 2 diabetes, although at this point researchers are not sure which comes first. E. Tasali, B. Mokhlesi, and E. Van Cauter reported in the February 2008 issue of "Chest" that the majority of patients with Type 2 diabetes also have sleep apnea, and that OSA is also associated with alterations in glucose metabolism. Metabolic syndrome is a group of obesity-related risk factors for heart disease. Loud snoring, a distinctive feature of OSA, more than doubled the development of high blood sugar and metabolic syndrome, in a study discussed in Science Daily.
The Bottom Line
While there is no clear-cut evidence that sleep apnea affects overall body metabolism, say sleep researchers Stuart F. Quan, M.D., Rohit Budhiraja, M.D., and Sairam Parthasarathy, M.D, who reported study results in the June 2008 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine," it clearly has an impact on glucose metabolism; obesity and sleep apnea tend to go together. Sleep apnea can cause a number of other serious health problems, so if you think you have this condition, you should discuss it with a health care professional.
References
- Elmhurst College Virtual Chembook; Overview of Carbohydrate Metabolism; Charles E. Ophardt; 2003
- Harvard Medical School; Harvard Health Publications; Importance of Sleep : Six Reasons Not to Scrimp 0n Sleep; January 2006
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: What Is Sleep Apnea?
- "Chest"; Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Type 2 Diabetes: Interacting Epidemics; E. Tasali, B. Mokhlesi, E. Van Cauter; February 2008
- Science Daily: Loud Snoring and Insomnia Symptoms Predict the Development of the Metabolic Syndrom; December 2010
- "Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine"; Is There a Bidirectional Relationship Between Obesity and Sleep-Disordered Breathing? Stuart F. Quan, M.D., Rohit Budhiraja, M.D., Sairam Parthasarathy, M.D.; June 2008
