From Harvard Health Publications, on October 2, 2013
By Stephanie Watson
New guidelines from the American College of Physicians (ACP) emphasize lifestyle modifications—especially weight loss—for treating obstructive sleep apnea. Though the guidelines don’t offer any radical treatment updates, they do reinforce the effectiveness of tried and true therapies.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder in which the airway becomes blocked during sleep, interrupting breathing—sometimes dozens of times during a single night. Having obstructive sleep apnea puts you at risk for a number of other conditions, including high blood pressure and stroke.
After researchers from the ACP Clinical Guidelines Committee reviewed studies on the effects of various sleep apnea treatments, “their conclusion was that current therapies are effective and there wasn’t a lot of new evidence to suggest doing anything different,” says Dr. Lawrence Epstein, assistant medical director of clinical sleep medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.