If you suffer sleep apnea, do this one thing before anything else. That’s according to a new study from the Flinders University’s Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health.
This one thing battles one of the main causes of sleep apnea. But this study shows that it also provides a cure for the disease.
The researchers recruited 40 overweight adults with a body mass index of 30 or higher, all with moderate to severe sleep apnea and mild daytime sleepiness.
They were then placed on a six-month weight loss program with high protein meal replacement shakes, behavioral support techniques, advice from dieticians and exercise physiologists, and access to support groups.
This is called the Flinders Program, a program that enables people to self-manage their chronic diseases.
Their preliminary results show that this weight loss program could drastically reduce the worst drowsiness effects of sleep apnea.
Once the daytime sleepiness left, weight loss obviously becomes easier, because people began having the energy to exercise and reduce their weight even faster.