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Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

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Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#31

I'm a dentist who regularly treats OSA with dental appliances; they work by posturing the mandible forward with a maxillary and mandibular (two-arch) device as a way to increase the cross sectional area of the posterior airway, reducing apneic events -- but it is important to know that the gold standard remains the positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. I would also like to point out that I see an incredible amount…

>In reaction to that, it is important to understand that for many people weight loss is neither practical nor maintainable and for that reason it is critical that we continue to advance our treatment of things like sleep apnea. Sorry, but I have to call BS on that. Having lost ~50 lbs last year (after my blood pressure started getting scary), I can tell you it's all about planning and self-discipline. You plan a diet…

Perhaps your anecdote does not qualify as a suitable counter argument. Is yours a normative experience? It is easy to lose weight in the sense that the solution is easily stated. Just restrict calories enough and weight will be lost. I suggest this is one of those things that is easy to say and hard to do. Isn't it akin to telling lifelong smokers, "Just stop smoking."? After all, if one simply doesn't smoke cigarettes then one will no longer have a smoking problem.

Can you see that perhaps your level of commitment is not possible for some people? Some people simply lack the willpower to do this.

Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#32

I'm a dentist who regularly treats OSA with dental appliances; they work by posturing the mandible forward with a maxillary and mandibular (two-arch) device as a way to increase the cross sectional area of the posterior airway, reducing apneic events -- but it is important to know that the gold standard remains the positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. I would also like to point out that I see an incredible amount…

I'd just like to chime in as someone who has lost and kept off about half his bodyweight, that yeah, losing significant amounts of weight is a very demanding undertaking. It requires a significant lifestyle change, large investments of time, is emotionally and cognitively draining, and to top it all off does not positively impact your quality of life nearly as much as is touted. To be successful at it requires a leve…

> ... your brain thinks you're starving and has all sorts of ways to wear down your will ...

I thought losing weight was about willpower and starving as well. But you can only keep that up for so long until your willpower breaks. Then I read this book, Allen Carr's "Good Sugar, Bad Sugar: Eat yourself free of sugar & carb addiction". It changed how I view things and now I no longer worry about how much I eat.

The key is in understanding that your hunger is driven by an addiction to sugar and carbs -- they're not what your body considers food so it always feels hungry. Change your diet and you no longer constantly feel hungry while still losing weight.

Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#33

I'm a dentist who regularly treats OSA with dental appliances; they work by posturing the mandible forward with a maxillary and mandibular (two-arch) device as a way to increase the cross sectional area of the posterior airway, reducing apneic events -- but it is important to know that the gold standard remains the positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. I would also like to point out that I see an incredible amount…

Got a CPAP about a year ago, changed my life. Weight issues aside I also have a big neck which means I'll probably have OSA even if I achieve a normal BMI.

Anyway, highly recommend a sleep study for anyone here who has symptoms like waking up feeling tired, dozing off in the afternoon, etc.

Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having lost ~50 lbs last year Trust me, it's too soon to say what you're saying. Source: lost >150lbs and kept it off for the past decade.

Maybe. I've actually implemented a rather complex set of rules to maintain my weight and it has been working so far. I keep a rough estimate of the calorie intake every day and try to keep it within reasonable bounds. I do make exceptions (hey I still love eating 2 pounds of steak with 3 pints of beer), but those days are followed by heavy dieting days to bring the calorie balance back. I also have a high-watermark/l…

how many hours did that "implemented a rather complex set of rules" take?

Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#35

I'm a dentist who regularly treats OSA with dental appliances; they work by posturing the mandible forward with a maxillary and mandibular (two-arch) device as a way to increase the cross sectional area of the posterior airway, reducing apneic events -- but it is important to know that the gold standard remains the positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. I would also like to point out that I see an incredible amount…

>it is important to understand that for many people weight loss is neither practical nor maintainable

People need to stop eating processed sugar. Losing and keeping off weight is easy. As soon as I stopped eating, candy, baked shit from coffee shops and crap, fast food, and stopped drinking pop, it became hard to gain weight. That shit's poison. It gives your body nothing. Cutting out nearly all processed sugary food is the easiest way to lose weight with basically no effort. I didn't change my lifestyle, I don't count calories or exercise to any regime. I sat for hours a day at my last job. I just stopped eating garbage and eating food that's actually food. I'm 5'8", I'd been over 200lbs for years and years. I can't get above 150lbs now and all I do is not eat sugar or processed crap. I eat tons of cheese and meat, I have at least one kind of grain and vegetable with each meal.

If the main ingredients of something are chemicals and sugar. It's not food. Don't eat it. Your body will be healthy, you'll lose weight. It's a pretty simple concept. These things give your body nothing. Your body needs certain things to make new cells and perform biological functions, eat those things and you'll be healthy. Eat garbage and poison and you won't be.

Eta: Sorry for the tone of my post. I've sat and watched a good friend of mine slipping in and out of a diabetic coma in a hospital brought on directly by the food he eats and to this day he still refuses to change his diet in anyway and I'm honestly worried it's going to kill him. This topic makes me a little more unreasonable than usual.

Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#36
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd just like to chime in as someone who has lost and kept off about half his bodyweight, that yeah, losing significant amounts of weight is a very demanding undertaking. It requires a significant lifestyle change, large investments of time, is emotionally and cognitively draining, and to top it all off does not positively impact your quality of life nearly as much as is touted. To be successful at it requires a leve…

Is the main inhibitor just the sensation of hunger being miscalibrated with your calorie goals? Instead of using mind over matter, what techniques exist for eliminating the sense of hunger?

Celebrities are known for using (illegal) stimulant drugs for this purpose. Of course I highly don't recommend doing this, those drugs will give you a heart attack long before your fat would have.

Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#37

I'm a dentist who regularly treats OSA with dental appliances; they work by posturing the mandible forward with a maxillary and mandibular (two-arch) device as a way to increase the cross sectional area of the posterior airway, reducing apneic events -- but it is important to know that the gold standard remains the positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. I would also like to point out that I see an incredible amount…

> In reaction to that, it is important to understand that for many people weight loss is neither practical nor maintainable

So you're saying that even though the obesity epidemic is an entirely new thing, that there's no way that these people can lose weight and keep it off?

It might require a lifestyle change, but saying it's not possible because change is hard is bullshit.

Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#39
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In reaction to that, it is important to understand that for many people weight loss is neither practical nor maintainable and for that reason it is critical that we continue to advance our treatment of things like sleep apnea. Sorry, but I have to call BS on that. Having lost ~50 lbs last year (after my blood pressure started getting scary), I can tell you it's all about planning and self-discipline. You plan a diet…

Is it possible that the amount of planning and self-discipline required is maybe what is sometimes neither practical nor maintainable, depending on the individual? Having lost and gained weight multiple times, it can be a psychological hell when it seems both the body and the mind are doing everything they can to fight against your discipline and planning and keep you where you are instead.

Yeah, it's gotta seem like a very weird thing to say if you haven't been through it, but your mind isn't the single entity you think it is. There are different components each with different motivations, purposes, responsibilities, etc. And a few of them really don't like what you're doing. They have access to the same reasoning engine as the parts that want to lose weight so they can make convincing arguments. Fighting them off wears down your will until they eventually win if you aren't careful.

And that isn't counting the effects of other parts of your body like your gut microbiome.

Re: Effect of Weight Loss on Obstructive Sleep Apnea: The Importance of Tongue Fat

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd just like to chime in as someone who has lost and kept off about half his bodyweight, that yeah, losing significant amounts of weight is a very demanding undertaking. It requires a significant lifestyle change, large investments of time, is emotionally and cognitively draining, and to top it all off does not positively impact your quality of life nearly as much as is touted. To be successful at it requires a leve…

I have had a lot of success with the Weight Watchers method. I want to lose around 18 kg and I lost already 12 since middle of October.

I will say Weight watchers is pretty effective
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