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Sleep apnoea — the temporary cessation of breathing during sleep — is a relatively common but under-diagnosed disease. Five or more such events per hour is considered a disease. Untreated, sleep apnoea is associated with an increased risk of traffic accidents, as well as stroke and heart disease, for example. Moderate and severe sleep apnoea also increases the risk of premature death. It has long been known that people with overweight or obesity are more likely to develop the disease, and that men are more affected than women.

Obstructive sleep apnoea is a common sleep disorder characterised by pauses in breathing during sleep. Each episode (apnoea) lasts for at least 10 seconds and is caused by the collapse of the upper airways during sleep.

Moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnoea (defined as 15 or more apnoeas per hour) carries an excess risk of motor vehicle crashes, heart disease and death. Yet only one study has examined the effects of weight loss on obstructive sleep apnoea.

In a randomised study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers at Karolinska Institutet examined if weight-loss can help to cure moderate and severe sleep apnoea. The study included 63 obese men (BMI between 30 and 40) aged between 30 and 65. The participants had moderate to severe sleep apnoea as measured by the AHI (apnoea-hypopnea) index. All participants had symptom alleviation treatment through CPAP — continuous positive airway pressure — which produces more normal breathing patterns during sleep. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which underwent an intense weight-loss programme, the other served as a control group, for a period of nine weeks.

The results of the study show that the weight loss group lost 19 kilos on average after nine weeks and more than halved the number of apnoea events. None of the treated patients had severe sleep apnoea, half had only mild sleep apnoea and one in six could be declared healthy. The researchers also noted that the effect of the weight loss programme was greatest in patients with severe sleep apnoea.