Does Sleep Apnea Affect Metabolism?

There are different kinds of sleep apnea, with obstructive sleep apnea being the most common. This kind of sleep apnea happens when a person’s airway gets blocked or closes multiple times during sleep. This can cause a person to wake up multiple times at night and feel tired during the day. However, the effects of sleep apnea are much more significant than that. It can even kill people, although this is rare. It’s common, though, for sleep apnea to have long-term effects like increasing the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, heart attack, diabetes, depression, and other health issues.

Other effects of sleep apnea have been studied, like its effects on blood sugar and fat levels, as well as stress hormones and blood pressure. These things can significantly affect metabolism, so in this way, sleep apnea can affect metabolism. Also, sleep apnea can cause sleep deprivation which can slow a person’s metabolism significantly. As a result, a person might have difficulty losing weight, and this can lead to other health consequences.

If you’re concerned about your sleep or metabolism, or if you have sleep apnea, then it is important and may even be vital to seek treatment right away. If sleep apnea is left untreated for even just 3 days, it can cause significant health complications.

The first step toward treatment of sleep apnea is to have your symptoms interpreted professionally. We can provide this service here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders, and once we understand what your symptoms are, we can test for sleep apnea. A test may be a sleep study which involves overnight monitoring of your sleep. Your breathing and how your body functions during sleep will be monitored. If a sleep study concludes that you do have sleep apnea, treatment can be provided.

You may have already heard about CPAP therapy (with a CPAP machine) for sleep apnea. It can be very effective for many patients, and a recent study on sleep apnea and metabolism reinforced the effectiveness of CPAP therapy. However, the treatment is uncomfortable for many patients, and you may have another option in oral appliance therapy. The therapy is proven, and approved by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. It works by helping the tongue, jaw, and throat relax and rest naturally, which actually prevents many of the conditions that cause sleep apnea in the first place. We provide the treatment here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders.

To learn more about sleep apnea, its effects, and the treatments for it, get in touch with us here at our clinic. You can call us. To have a consultation with us about your sleep, call us at that number or check our Locations page for the location nearest you. We have clinics throughout Bloomington IL, Peoria – Dunlap IL, Mishawaka IN, Kansas City MO, El Paso TX and Wausau WI.

Contact us or come see us soon if you believe as we do that you’ll benefit from our services here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders!