Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Lap band surgery and sleep apnea

When you think about surgery for sleep apnea you generally think about UPPP, Maxillomandibular advancement and somnoplasty among others. Some are more evasive than others and the recovery period also varies. What they all have in common is the opening up of the airway in the back of throat, which is the cause of obstructive sleep apnea. There is another surgery that might indirectly help cure your sleep apnea. The lap band surgery helps reduce your weight which is usually a problem with most sleep apnea sufferers.



What is lap band surgery?

According to Wikipedia “a lap band is an inflatable silicone device that is placed around the top portion of the stomach, via laparoscopic surgery, in order to treat obesity. Adjustable gastric band surgery is an example of bariatric surgery designed for obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater—or between 35–40 in cases of patients with certain co morbidities that are known to improve with weight loss, such as sleep apnea, diabetes, osteoarthritis, GERD, Hypertension (high blood pressure), or metabolic syndrome, among others. “

What is interesting about lap band surgery is that an FDA is now considering lowering the BMI for potential surgery candidates.

One thing to remember is that being overweight is the reason that folks have sleep apnea. A narrow throat, an enlarged tongue and the shape of the face also causes sleep apnea.


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2 comments:

  1. If you are obese and have ever considered having lap-band surgery, an FDA committee has recommended changing the required body mass index from 35 to 30. If you would like to read more information on Lap Band surgery, cost of Lap Band surgery, Lap Band surgery Insurance and many more please Visit: http://www.freelapbandsurgery.com This website describes the LAP-BAND procedure and technique along with a step-by-step explanation of how it is performed.

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