It's time we know about what's happening on the inside. So here are some tips on "inside information".

A research study done at Johns Hopkins discovered that obese people with chronic intermittent hypoxia that often characterizes obstructive sleep apnea, (OSA) a common form of Sleep Disordered Breathing, is also independently linked to the progression of liver disease. The study is published in the first issue for February 2009 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

In this study, researchers recruited 90 severely obese patients presenting for bariatric surgery without known diagnoses of obstructive sleep apnea. Each patient underwent a sleep study and blood tests for markers of liver function, insulin resistance, and systemic inflammation. And, because standard practice for patients undergoing bariatric surgery is to biopsy the liver, the researchers were able to analyze liver tissue for signs of disease and link it to the severity and type of sleep disordered breathing they observed during the sleep study.

Lead researcher, Vsevolod Y. Polotsky, M.D., Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins’ asthma and allergy center relates that, “Our data suggest that patients with OSA and severe nocturnal hypoxemia should be screened for liver disease and, conversely, patients with liver disease should be screened for OSA.”

I relay this information not to cause fear, but to alert you of the dangers associated with sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea should be taken seriously and cancause liver and heart damage, which also results in ineffective weight loss as well as life threatening ailments.

Hypoxia: a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching body tissues

Sleep apnea has also been associated with heart disease...stay tuned for more information to follow under the topic of "insider information".