Body position greatly affects the number and severity of episodes of obstructive sleep apnea, with at least twice as many apneas occurring in people who lay on their back as in those who sleep on their side. This may be due to the effects of gravity, which cause the throat to narrow when a person lies on the back. (Indeed, astronauts show a marked reduction in apneas and snoring in the weightlessness of space.) Positional sleep apnea affects people of all ages, including young children.
As a first step in dealing with sleep apnea, the patient should simply try rolling over onto the side. Patients who sleep on their backs and have 50 - 80 apneas per hour can sometimes nearly eliminate them when they shift to one side or the other. (Changing positions is less effective the more overweight a person is, but it still helps.)
Here are some suggestions that might help a person maintain a low-risk sleeping position:
All patients with obstructive sleep apnea who are overweight should attempt a weight-reducing program. Weight loss certainly reduces snoring and apnea/hypopnea episodes in many people, sometimes stopping it completely. It also improves sleep and significantly reduces daytime sleepiness.
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