Obesity and sleep apnea

People who are obese also suffer in their sleep, usually they have shorter sleep duration as compared to people of non-obese category. The quality as well as quantity both are affected. Obesity becomes a major risk factor for development of a type of sleep disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and progression. OSA is defined as intermittent or complete upper airway collapse while a person is in sleep, which leads to fragmentation in sleep, decreased levels of bloody oxygen (also known as hypoxemia), increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2 hypercapnia), intrathoracic pressure oscillations and increased sympathetic activity. The diagnosis and severity of this disease is based on Apnea Hypoapnea Index (AHI). AHI between 5 and 15 is termed as mild OSA, between 15 and 30 is called as moderate OSA and >30 is known as severe OSA. Since the awareness of this sleep disorder is less amongst the population, 80% of the OSA cases go undiagnosed.1–4