Lose fat in your tongue to improve sleep apnea, study says By Sandee LaMotte, CNN (Jan 10, 2020)

[Patient4Life]

Lose fat in your tongue to improve sleep apnea, study says
By Sandee LaMotte, CNN (Jan 10, 2020)

"The question then was if you reduce the fat in your tongue, does that improve your sleep apnea? And the answer from our paper is 'yes,' " said Penn Medicine sleep specialist Dr. Richard Schwab, the lead author of a new study published Friday in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

"This study shows reducing excess fat in general can reduce tongue size," said Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a sleep specialist at Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California, who was not involved in the study.

In the new paper, the researchers used MRI imaging to measure the effect on upper airways of a 10% weight loss in 67 obese patients. The images showed reducing tongue fat was the primary reason overall sleep apnea scores improved by 31%.

 

[Hoopoe]

Yet another reason to stay slim.

 

[Denise]

How long will it take til there's "tongue reduction surgery"?

 

[Kitty]

How long will it take til there's "tongue reduction surgery"?

Yup – following an epidemic of 'tongue-shaming' on Instagram!