Bariatric Surgery and Its Impact on Sleep Apnea

You’re suffering from sleep apnea, and you’re sick of it. You’re wondering if bariatric surgery can help; and if so, which weight loss surgery is most successful at treating it.

Let’s walk through these questions together.

What Is Sleep Apnea?

First, what is sleep apnea? It’s a debilitating sleep disorder in which your breathing can suddenly stop. This can happen dozens of times per hour and hundreds of times per night.

There are two types of sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the more common variant. It occurs when the soft tissues around your throat collapse while you sleep, which blocks the flow of air into your lungs. Your body then wakes you up in order to fix the problem, which is why it causes you to wake up so often in the middle of the night (often without you realizing it).

There’s also central sleep apnea (CSA), which is when the brain fails to send the right signals to the muscles in your body that control your breathing. This can lead you to stop breathing just like OSA can.

Both because it’s more common, and because it’s directly linked to obesity, we will be focusing in this article on obstructive sleep apnea.

What Causes Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

The leading cause of obstructive sleep apnea is excess weight. One study found that “patients with mild OSA who gain 10% of their baseline weight are at a sixfold-increased risk of progression of OSA.” Why does obesity contribute to OSA? One reason is because obesity can cause fat deposits to form in the mouth and upper airway. When you’re asleep and your mouth and throat muscles are relaxed, the fat deposits collapse and block your airway. Additionally, fat deposits in the upper airway can decrease the size of the airway. That makes it easier for the airway to collapse, blocking air flow. 

Along the same lines, a thick neck (a neck circumference of over 17 inches for men, and 15 inches for women) is one risk for OSA, and people who suffer from obesity tend to have thicker necks than people who do not.

Other causes of obstructive sleep apnea include:

– A narrow throat (which can be genetic)

– Being male (men are at 2-3 times higher risk for OSA than women)

– Age (older adults are at higher risk for OSA)

– Family history of OSA

– Drinking alcohol (alcohol can relax the muscles in your throat, which can worsen OSA)

– Smoking (which increases inflammation in the upper airway)

– Congestive heart failure

– High blood pressure

– Type 2 diabetes

How Can Weight Loss Surgery Address Sleep Apnea?

You may be wondering: does sleep apnea go away after bariatric surgery? Fortunately, the answer to that question is generally yes. Weight loss surgery is extremely effective when it comes to treating sleep apnea. In fact, one study found that weight loss surgery patients saw remission of OSA in 80-85% of cases.

Why does weight loss surgery help patients to resolve sleep apnea? Because obesity and the extra tissue around your airway causes sleep apnea, losing weight significantly decreases fat deposits around your airway which often resolves the issue. One study found that patients who lose just 10% of their body weight experience a 20% improvement in their OSA. If you’re suffering from OSA, weight loss surgery can help you to dramatically improve your sleep quality and respiratory health. Bariatric surgery patients lose much more weight than this, resolving OSA around 85% of the time.

What Is the Best Bariatric Surgery For Sleep Apnea?

For most patients, the answer to this question is duodenal switch surgery. According to a 2013 systematic review, 99% of patients with OSA who received biliopancreatic diversion surgery (with or without duodenal switch) saw improvement or resolution of their OSA. That’s compared to 86% of patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy surgery and 79% of patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery. 

Taking the Next Step On Your Weight Loss Surgery

Sleep apnea is an unpleasant condition to have to live with. It can cause irritability and fatigue, because you wake up dozens or even hundreds of times per night. It can also cause high blood pressure, stroke, and even heart problems.

If you’re tired of sleep apnea and want to get it (along with many other health conditions) resolved, reach out to our friendly office staff today.