Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a potentially life-threatening condition that robs your entire body of rest, oxygen, and nutrients every single night. When you have OSA, you stop breathing numerous times an hour, sometimes for minutes at a time.
When your doctor diagnoses you with OSA, that means your blood oxygen levels drop to dangerous levels when you sleep. If you don’t improve your nighttime breathing, you increase your risk for potentially fatal conditions, including:
Our expert cardiologist, Dr. Ola Akinboboye, takes OSA very seriously because of its negative effects on the cardiovascular system. In addition to being a board-certified cardiologist, he’s also a sleep medicine physician. He evaluates and treats your OSA at our office in Rosedale, Queens, New York.
While you may need a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to ensure that you breathe deeply and safely throughout the night, we also help you make lifestyle changes that improve your nighttime breathing. Here’s how to improve your OSA and get a good night’s rest again.
Obstructive sleep apnea is often caused by or exacerbated by fat around the face and neck. Too much fat can literally obstruct your airway, shutting off oxygen to your body while you sleep. An overly large neck, tongue, and other soft tissues increase your risk for snoring and apneas (i.e., pauses) in your nighttime breathing.
It’s not always easy to lose weight, but the benefits are worth the effort. Not only does moving from obesity or overweight to a healthy weight improve your overall health, but it also may improve your OSA.
Obesity is a major risk factor for OSA. Conversely, losing weight can improve your OSA score. Some patients even reverse their OSA with weight loss. Of course, the process of losing weight also entails other lifestyle changes that positively impact health, including higher-quality food and more exercise.
Whether you need to lose weight or not, improving the quality of your diet and exercising more can also help reduce the severity of your OSA. The best effects seem to come from anti-inflammatory diets that minimize or avoid:
Instead, prioritize healthy foods, including high-quality protein. Find ways to integrate real foods into your diet, such as:
You may need help switching from the diet you’ve grown up with, or that’s most convenient or cheapest, to one that nourishes your body. We may recommend medically supervised weight loss, including the short-term use of medications that help you lose fat and control cravings.
Just as your diet needs to be health-promoting, so does your exercise routine. Exercise also helps your body handle stress, which can otherwise disturb your sleep. We help you find fun, invigorating ways to add movement into your life so that you’re in line with the American Heart Association’s guidelines.
As you improve your lifestyle and start sleeping better, it might be easier to let go of bad habits that are worsening your OSA. Ditch bad habits, and add in some good new ones, such as:
You can improve your sleep hygiene by following the tips from the Sleep Foundation. Most adults should aim for 7-9 hours of restful, deep sleep.
The FDA has approved a new drug to treat sleep apnea; Zepbound is for women and men with obesity and OSA. A new drug called AD109 also shows promise for people of all weights and degrees of severity of OSA. However, it has not yet been approved by the FDA.
Dr. Akinboboye may also recommend medications to control your blood pressure. In addition, you may find that exercises that strengthen the muscles in your face, jaw, and neck can reduce snoring and apneas, too.
Snoring and gasping for breath at night puts your life at risk. Find out how treating OSA can improve your sleep and possibly save your life by calling our helpful team at 718-208-4816 or using our online outreach form.
