Research Plus

Weight loss reduces apnoea

People with obstructive sleep apnoea are at raised risk of cardiovascular disease, sudden death during sleep and of having an accident while driving. A weight-loss programme based on a very low energy diet reduced the severity of the condition, as measured using the apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI – rate of apnoea and hypopnoea per hour of sleep). Sixty-three men with BMI 30–40 and aged 30–65 years were included in the nine-week randomised controlled trial. Mean weight loss in the intervention group was 19kg, with a mean BMI reduction of 5.7. By the end of the trial, average AHI in the intervention group was 12, against 35 in the control group.

British Medical Journal 2009; 339: b4609. http://www.bmj.com/content/339/bmj.b4609.abstract

Tags apnoea evidence based practice obesity sleep

Occupational Health at Work February/March 2010 (vol. 06/5) pp40