Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Sleep Apnea Obesity

Sleep apnea and obesity describes the close, mutually reinforcing relationship between excess body weight and disordered breathing during sleep, particularly obstructive sleep apnea. Obesity is among the strongest risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea: the accumulation of fat around the neck and upper airway narr…

Curated from this journal's research 📚 10 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 43× across the literature 🔖 ISSN 2574-4518 🗓 Reviewed July 2026

Overview

Sleep apnea and obesity describes the close, mutually reinforcing relationship between excess body weight and disordered breathing during sleep, particularly obstructive sleep apnea. Obesity is among the strongest risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea: the accumulation of fat around the neck and upper airway narrows and destabilizes the pharynx, while abdominal and thoracic adiposity reduces lung volumes and respiratory reserve, all of which promote airway collapse and impaired ventilation during sleep. In its more severe form, marked obesity can be accompanied by chronic daytime hypoventilation, in which inadequate breathing leads to retention of carbon dioxide, a state often associated with severe sleep-disordered breathing. The relationship is bidirectional, because the sleep fragmentation, intermittent hypoxia, and disrupted metabolic regulation caused by sleep apnea can in turn promote weight gain, insulin resistance, and difficulty losing weight, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. Together, obesity and sleep apnea amplify the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic complications, including hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Diagnosis combines assessment of body weight and symptoms with sleep studies that quantify respiratory events and oxygen desaturation. Management is often multimodal, integrating weight reduction with positive airway pressure and other airway therapies. Because obesity and sleep apnea frequently coexist and aggravate one another, their interplay is a central concern in sleep medicine and in the broader management of metabolic and cardiovascular health.

Research published in this journal

10 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 10 articles above have been cited 43 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Sleep Apnea Obesity, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in Sleep And Sleep Disorder Research (ISSN 2574-4518).

Journal editorial board
Dragos Octavian Palade · Romania Mauro Manconi · Switzerland Karim Sedky · United States

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.