Sleep Dynamic Therapy

Archive for the ‘Obesity’ Category

Once again, another major report on obesity and barely a word about the role of sleep and sleep disorders in this epidemic.

In this Washington Post article covering recent research on longevity in patients undergoing weight loss surgery, the emphasis seems to favor bariatric procedures. That is, it appears that those who undergo weight loss surgery and lose weight increase their lifespan. I’ve not read the research articles yet, but the question raised would be why would these patients live longer. Obesity is a risk for many diseases, but the one least likely to get a mention would be obstructive sleep apnea. I’d bet the research articles mention SDB as one explanation for why patients might live longer, even though the Post didn’t make a comment on it. However, I doubt the research conducted pre and post weight loss sleep tests to find out what happened to the severity of SDB in these cases. That information might prove quite illuminating.

There’s an interesting debate going on at www.reason.com regarding why obese people might earn less money than non-obese. I’ve commented there on how the sleep breathing angle, a common condition among obese people, might lead to cognitive impairment and thus lower one’s earning potential.