Article:Brain Can Learn to Overcome Sleep Apnea

roster wrote:

SnoozyQ wrote:I would also like to thank you for the jaw info....I haven't seen that article before and I would love to present this to my doc, as I've had lifelong dental/jaw issues.

Good idea. Here is your reading assignment: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=53983&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

When I get back later today I will send you some more exciting information.

Thanks!

I haven't read through everything yet, but I plan to later today. But what I've read so far really really adds up with my maxillofacial issues.....wow.

I have a comment and question regarding the premise that OSA causes weight gain that I don't see addressed very well in the bullet points. For us overweight people, the bullet points don't definitively place blame for the weight gain on the disease or the person.

Pre-CPAP, I felt that I was just not motivated to exercise (blaming myself) where in fact I may have been just too tired (blame my body). Being tired kind of crept up on me so it appeared to me more like laziness or depression or not in the mood or just not able to push myself like I used to do (more blame myself or see a shrink for meds). I always hated to exercise but I was able to push myself to train for 9 months and run a marathon about 25 years ago so I know that I can do it if I set the goal. Pre-CPAP I set lots of goals and promises that I didn't keep. Just before CPAP I got to the point where I was not motivated to open the mail. I changed to a low carb lifestyle two years ago (still on it) and lost 10% of my body weight in 3 months with a BMI going from 32 to 28. I tried, but I still couldn't push myself to exercise. I would exercise one day and stop for a month and try again the next month to only exercise for a day. I wanted to sleep after exercising. I wanted to sleep after taking a ritalin or two cups of coffee. I blamed my lack of willpower or that I was clinically depressed and I need meds. 6-weeks after CPAP I'm back on a daily exercise schedule dusting off my old aerobics VHS tapes. Getting on the mini-trampoline is so much easier now (highly recommended); the wife is amazed.

I know the answer to my question might be "it's a combination of things" and one feeds off the other, but I wonder if you had read a more definitive assessment of the link between OSA and weight gain. Is it my fault or my body's fault?

So, my question is: Do the medical experts believe that the weight gain is primarily caused by just not pushing through the malaze and getting off my butt and eating too much (lack of self discipline) or is it a physio-chemical biological issue that can not be pushed through with self motivation?

When I first read the title of this thread I was expecting to read about some metaphysical cure, not the obvious that the brain learns to overcome sleep apnea by waking us up 50 times an hour .

I was expecting something like Deepak Chopra suggesting that we just think our way to growing a new airway through directed thought and meditation (his mantra from around 1990 about growing new body parts by thinking about it; I have the audio tapes). I tried to grow a disc to cure my herniated disc a while back but it didn't work; my fault I guess. Chopra said that the spine has a complete change of atoms every so many years and soft tissue much faster like every few months, and all we need to do is focus on a new healthy organ and we will grow a new healthy one because it is really our choice whether we choose to create cells with damaged chromosomes or undamaged ones. Wayne Dyer once preached that he doesn't get colds and flu because he simply chose not to (I have the audio tapes). I guess he chose to go bald, and get Leukemia.

So, once again, it is our fault that we are unhealthy. It is only us to blame that we choose to have OSA.

But maybe the real story is that it really is our brain that can learn to overcome sleep apnea by seeking and choosing the right therapy for ourselves. It is our brain that decides to try a new mask, to try a new pressure, to try a new machine, to try alternatives. Is that any less a miracle than finding some neurotransmitter or hormone that zaps your hypoglossal nerve 50 times an hour? Maybe we need to find the neurotransmitter or hormone pill that controls our decision to try, to help those who's brains are not functioning correctly either from the effects of OSA or some other problem. It appears to me that most members here already have this "pill" and their brains are already learning to overcome sleep apnea.

sydneybird wrote: or is it a physio-chemical biological issue that can not be pushed through with self motivation?

It is very difficult without the sleep apnea being successfully treated.


Here is a quote I saved from one of Dr. Steven Y. Park's articles:

It's been proven that poor sleep (quality or quantity) can promote weight gain through various mechanisms. Leptin is one major hormone that provides information about energy status to your brain—essentially, it tells your brain that you have enough energy. Low levels of leptin causes hunger. Normally, leptin increases after you eat, but sleep deprivation lowers this hormone, making you hungry. As leptin drops, your cortisol levels will also increase. As I've mentioned numerous times in my book, Sleep, Interrupted, poor sleep efficiency cause a low-grade physiologic stress reaction that increases your cortisol levels. This hormone also makes you more hungry. Other studies have shown that not only will you be more hungry, you'll tend to crave fattier, sugary, high carb foods.

You can imagine how once this process starts, it's a vicious cycle: Poor sleep makes you more hungry, so you eat more or snack close to bedtime. More frequent obstructions causes your stomach juices to be suctioned up into your throat, causing more inflammation and swelling. These juices can then go into your nose and lungs, causing further inflammation and swelling. Weight gain then narrows your throat further, aggravating sleep apnea, which makes you sleep less efficiently.

Here are some tips on diet and sleep apnea: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=58661&p=551925&hili ... ep#p551925

Here are my suggestions in the order they should be implemented:

1. Get off the self-guilt trip.
2. Optimize your CPAP therapy (need efficacy software for monitoring).
3. Practice excellent sleep hygiene.
4. Adopt proper eating habits.
5. Have fun with exercise.
6. Have fun with associates, friends, and family.

SnoozyQ wrote:

roster wrote:

SnoozyQ wrote:I would also like to thank you for the jaw info....I haven't seen that article before and I would love to present this to my doc, as I've had lifelong dental/jaw issues.

Good idea. Here is your reading assignment: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=53983&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

When I get back later today I will send you some more exciting information.

Thanks!

I haven't read through everything yet, but I plan to later today. But what I've read so far really really adds up with my maxillofacial issues.....wow.

Here is some more good reading:

1. Discussion of Small Jaws as Cause of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Rooster) - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=53983&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

2. Oral Systemic Balance http://www.sleepguide.com/forum/topics/ ... 1#comments Be sure to watch some of the Oral Systemic Balance youtube videos. The nearest OSB practitioners are in Richmond and Atlanta. Hopefully we will soon start to see them in the Tarheel State.

You should get a good feel for how and why underdevelopment of the jaw (not obesity) is the predominant root cause of obstructive sleep-disordered breathing.

roster wrote:
Here are my suggestions in the order they should be implemented:

1. Get off the self-guilt trip.
2. Optimize your CPAP therapy (need efficacy software for monitoring).
3. Practice excellent sleep hygiene.
4. Adopt proper eating habits.
5. Have fun with exercise.
6. Have fun with associates, friends, and family.

Excellent post Roster!

I have been successful completing items 1-4 and getting much better with 5 and 6. I'm well on my way.

The Dr. Park quote makes complete sense.