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Originally published September 29 2005

Study links obesity and fatigue to snoring

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

Daily News Central reports that obesity and fatigue may be linked to obesity, poor academic performance, daytime sleepiness, hypertension, stroke and ischemic heart disease, according to a study by scientists at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego.



Habitual snoring has been independently linked to obesity, poor academic performance, daytime sleepiness, hypertension, stroke and ischemic heart disease. There is no universal standard for measuring snoring, and the official definition -- "loud upper airway breathing sounds in sleep, without episodes of apnea or hyperventilation" -- is misleading. Individuals have a poor sense of how loud or how long they snore, and observers' perceptions are only a little better, studies have shown. Therefore, researchers set out to develop an objective method of measuring snoring, incorporating a new unattended home sleep-study device. They used a database containing anonymous records of 4,858 patients for whom snoring was measured by unattended home sleep studies. The sample included 4,151 males and 707 females with an average age of 54, ranging in age from 13 to 95 years. Snoring was a component of the chief complaint in 2,624 records. The researchers found a strong relationship between history of snoring and complaints of daytime sleepiness (80 percent), obesity (73 percent) and chronic fatigue (78 percent). In three multiple regression analyses, snoring time, average loudness and peak loudness were predicted to a significant degree by AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index), BMI and age. The present study demonstrates that a patient's snoring history, as reported in the consultation referrals, is highly related to obesity, excessive daytime sleepiness and chronic fatigue symptoms, report the researchers. There ia a highly significant and independent association between the duration and loudness of snoring with Apnea Hypopnea Index and Body Mass Index. Average sustained loudness increased almost 20 dB between normal and severe AHI. Duration of sleep time spent snoring increased from 73 percent for normal AHI (in patients referred for sleep study) to 98 percent for severe AHI.


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