Excess weight can be sleep related

Dr. Smith: If your snoring has elevated into a more dangerous condition called sleep apnea, that is indeed true. (Only a sleep study can give you this information) There are various theories, most of which have sketchy research behind them, but what we know is that the link is real. One thought revolves around the hormones leptin and gherlin. Leptin tells you when you are full, while gherlin tells you to eat. When you don’t get proper sleep due to sleep apnea, leptin levels drop, gherlin levels rise and you keep eating. Many ask me if there are leptin pills available, but I’m afraid these are not yet on the market. They may be close, using a medication meant for diabetes to hold the leptin, but all they have been able to do is help keep weight off once it has been lost. Having said that, it’s a long way from FDA approval, so in the meantime, just eat less and exercise I’ll post other theories on weight gain due to snoring and sleep apnea in future blog posts.

Dr. Smith: The levels are regulated properly in slow wave sleep, and without it (severe OSA), the levels are all over the place. They are working on leptin pills to take, but so far, have been unsuccessful other than combining them with an anti-diabetic drug, and even then, they can only help people keep weight off, not LOSE weight.