Trying to lose weight and it just isn’t working? The reason could be the amount of time you are sleeping. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that people who didn’t get enough sleep ate more but they didn’t burn off the extra calories.

The study took a group of middle-aged men and women of similar size and had them live in a research facility for five days. They did this twice. The first time the participants could sleep for nine hours. The second visit restricted their sleep to only four hours each night. During both stays the study participants diets were restricted during the first four days of their stay — on the final day they could eat whatever they wanted. Tests showed that the same number of calories were burned each day no matter the sleep duration. However, when the participants were sleep deprived they ate 300 calories more on the final day than they had when they were well rested.

Other recent studies have also shown the link between the quantity or quality of sleep and weight management. For obstructive sleep apnea patients this is especially problematic because many are overweight and are told by their physicians to lose weight in order to better manage their conditions. Because their sleep is disrupted by stoppages in breathing they never get a full night of sleep. For those patients using a CPAP to treat their condition sleep can also be disrupted when nighttime movements dislodge the mask or hoses.

Oral appliance therapy treats obstructive sleep apnea without machines or surgery. Similar in size to an orthodontic retainer or mouthguard these custom fitted appliances allow the patient to breath all night long allowing undisturbed sleep.

For more information please contact our Columbus area office at 614-476-6696 today. We will be happy to schedule a consultation to see if you are a candidate for oral appliance therapy.