Thursday, May 14, 2009

The fluid hypothesis and sleep apnea

There has been some evidence that links sitting too long during the day with sleep apnea. During the day fluid builds up in the legs, when you go to bed the fluid redistributes up through the body. If some of that fluid gets to the neck that can cause blockage in the airway.

This can be especially troubling if you work in an office where you sit behind a computer all day or if you drive a truck over long distances. According to Doctor Douglas Bradley, who headed the study at the University of Toronto Center for Sleep Medicine, taking a walk everyday should help with this condition. In future research the use of elevating the head while sleeping, the use of diuretics and using compression stocking will also be tested.

Dr. Bradley called this idea “the fluid hypothesis.”

I read this information from the Canadian Institute of Health Research website.

Something that I found interesting in the article was that Dr. Bradley suggested that the majority of OSA patients are not obese. I suppose he means that although weigh is still a factor it might not be as significant a factor.


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