Well, there obviously is a connection between sleep duration and weight gain. Recent studies have confirmed the link between the two. As a matter of fact, people who are well-rested are more likely to live with a better shape than their counterparts who experience recurrent sleep deprivation.
Sleep apnea and weight gain
In sleep apnea, your upper airway gets partially or completely obstructed. The result is you cannot breathe in and out the way you should. This disturbance in your sleeping pattern pulls you out of your sleep many times during the night, even though you might not notice it. However, when you wake up in the morning, you feel not rested well even after a night’s sleep the condition makes you feel fatigued and drowsy all day, not to mention the discomfort you cause to your partner due to your loud snoring all night.
Lack of sleep for long makes you less likely to go and exercise which further reduces your metabolism rate (which impacts your body’s ability to absorb calories). You also begin to crave more for unhealthy foods, high in fats and carbs this increases your chances of putting up all the unhealthy weight faster. The high-fat and high-sugar foods act as your solace when you feel depressed and want something to cope with the depression. This sedentary lifestyle coupled with excessive consumption of junk foods makes you gain pounds, without you even noticing it and by the time you finally realize the damage that you’ve done to your body, it’s often too late.
If you’re already obese, your chances of getting affected by sleep apnea are already higher than someone in good shape. Having obesity and sleep disorders make you more likely to develop chronic diseases including diabetes, heart diseases, kidney disorders, and hypertension. Sleep apnea has also been linked to erratic driving, and thus may increase risk of car accidents.
Prevention and early treatment is the real key
Obesity will badly impact your personal and social life. The solution to a fitter and better you lies in prevention and early treatment. To break this connection between weight gain and sleep apnea, you should see your doctor immediately if you feel you might have sleep apnea or some other sleep disorders such as narcolepsy or restless legs syndrome. Once you know the problem, you can get proper treatment and break the link causing your weight gain.
A sleep specialist can easily determine whether you’ve sleep apnea or other sleep disorders. For this, he/she may ask you to take a sleep study or polysomnogram. To take this test, you will be asked to spend a night at the sleep center. During the stay, a sleep technician will attach several wires to your body to monitor your sleep health while you sleep, and store & score the data for the doctor to review. At Aviss Health, we also let you take the test from the comfort of your own place, when you’re really not comfortable with the idea of spending a night at a sleep center.
To discuss your unexplained weight gain in the last couple of months or to take a sleep test, get in touch with us at 9871-61-3322 to fix an appointment