We know Sleep Apnea is associated with obesity. It’s also true that it can cause all sorts of complications. We can all be happy that there have been many breakthroughs in this area.
A good example of the progress that has been made is in Bariatric surgery, known as weight loss surgery. This is becoming a more and more common procedure, and involves either the implanting of a gastric band in the patient or the more extreme measure of removing portions of the stomach or small intestines- a gastric bypass.
The aim of this procedure, or rather group of procedures, is to reduce the functional stomach space of the patient, thus reducing their capacity to consume. It’s an extreme-sounding procedure, but it’s proven remarkably successful in recent years and is growing in popularity.
One issue that surgeons carrying out this process have become more aware of recently is that bariatric patients are at a high risk of Sleep Apnea. When gastric surgery was in its infancy, this was less clearly understood, and as a result a number of patients were historically exposed to high risk of further complications, and in some cases deaths.
Now, however, the fact that gastric surgery can cause breathing disorders during sleep has been more widely understood. It’s now commonly tested for, and easily and effectively treated, using widely understood procedures such as the CPAP machine, corrective surgery on the airways, sprays, and many other remedies.
Reason for optimism, I would think! Sleep Apnea and obesity are so intertwined that it’s good to know that they can be treated together.
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