Most experts attrubute the obesity epidemic to a sedentary lifestyle combined with hig caloric intake. However, in recent years sleep deprivation has been considered as a significant factor promoting this epidemic. Research has shown that sleep deprivation promotes craving of carbohydrate-rich foods, thus making it difficult for obese individuals to curb their appetites. Currently 66% of Americans are overweight or obese, which increases their risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and other diseases according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep deprivation can be due to a number of common sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), insufficient sleep syndrome, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, and insomnia. Sleep apnea is as common as adult type 2 diabetes and affects more than 12 million Americans, according to National Institutes of Health.
The vast majority of sleep apnea patients remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated. The consequences of sleep apnea include heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, hypertension, accelerated development of coronary artery disease, abnormal heart rhythms, convulsions, memory problems, slowed thinking, irritability, mood swings, depression and high-speed highway crashes.
Obesity and Sleep Disorders: Implications for Bariatric Patients
Mahmood I. Siddique, DO, FACP, FCCP, FAASM, Iftekhar Mahmud, MD and Reshmi M. Siddique, PhD
