Resting metabolic rate and anthropometric measurements in male sleep apnea patients.

OBJECTIVE: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is a common sleep-related breathing disorder. Associations among Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI), Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), body habitus differences, and otorhinolaryngologic abnormality may clarify the characteristics of patients with OSAS. In order to test this hypothesis, we aimed to compare the RMR, Modified Mallampati Scores (MMS), anthropometric measurements and body composition of male OSAS patients with simple snorers and to investigate the association among these parameters. METHODS: MMS were calculated, overnight polysomnography was performed, body mass index, neck, shoulder, chest, waist, hip and abdomen circumferences, body fat amount and ratio, lean body weight, body water amount and RMR were measured for all of the patients. PATIENTS: Ninety-eight male patients with suspected OSAS were included in the study. RESULTS: Fifty-one patients were diagnosed as OSAS and 47 patients were diagnosed as simple snorers. RMR, total body water, neck, shoulder and chest circumferences were significantly higher in OSAS patients than the simple snorers. The majority of the simple snorers was seen to have a MMS of stage 2 whereas OSAS patients had MMS of stages 3 and 4. AHI was significantly correlated with neck, shoulder, chest circumferences, total body water amount, MMS and RMR. Chest girth was found as the most important single predictor of sleep apnea in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the increased RMR and chest circumference might have occurred due to the condition resulting from the elevated AHI in patients with OSAS. Mallampati score should be routinely evaluated in OSAS patients.

Assessment of pulmonary functions and anthropometric measurements in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to compare pulmonary function tests of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) versus healthy women, and to investigate correlations between pulmonary function tests and anthropometric measurements of them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 31 women with PCOS and 29 controls matched for age and body mass index (BMI) were enrolled into the study. Pulmonary function tests were performed with spirometer. Body fat percentage was calculated from the skinfold thicknesses using the formula. Biacromial, chest antero-posterior and lateral diameter measurements were carried out with anthropometric set. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between patients with PCOS and healthy controls in the pulmonary function tests, body fat %, chest and abdomen region anthropometric measurements. There were moderate negative correlations only between forced expiratory volume per 1 s and BMI, abdomen circumference, body fat percentage in patients with PCOS. In the control group, however, there were moderate or strong negative correlations between anthropometric measurements (BMI, body fat percentage, abdominal circumference, chest lateral diameter) and at least three different pulmonary function tests. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the upper body anthropometry and respiratory function relations might have impaired in patients with PCOS. We think that this situation might support the increased tendency for poor health status in patients with PCOS.

Aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacities in obstructive sleep apnea and associations with subcutaneous fat distributions.

Obesity is a strong risk factor for the development and progression of sleep apnea. Responses to exercise by patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) are clinically relevant to reducing body weight and cardiovascular risk factors. This study aimed to clarify the aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacities and their possible relationships with other findings in patients with OSAS. Forty patients (30 males, 10 females) and 40 controls (30 males, 10 females) were enrolled in this study. Questionnaires (excessive daytime sleepiness, daytime tiredness, morning headache, waking unrefreshed, and imbalance), overnight polysomnography, indirect laryngoscopy, and aerobic and anaerobic exercise tests were performed. Triceps, subscapular, abdomen, and thigh skinfold thicknesses were measured. Subcutaneous abdominal fat (abdomen skinfold) was significantly higher in OSAS patients than in controls. Maximal anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity were not different significantly between the patients and controls. We found that aerobic capacity was significantly lower in OSAS patients than in controls. Aerobic capacity was negatively correlated with upper-body subcutaneous fat (triceps and subscapular skinfolds) but not correlated with subcutaneous abdominal fat in OSAS patients. In multivariate analyses using all patients, the apnea-hypopnea index remained a significant independent predictor of aerobic capacity after controlling for a variety of potential confounders including body mass index. Our data confirm that central obesity (subcutaneous abdominal fat) is prominent in patients with OSAS. Our results suggest that lower aerobic exercise capacity in patients with OSAS might be due to daily physical activity that is restricted by OSA itself. This study also suggests that the degree of subcutaneous abdominal fat cannot be used for predicting aerobic capacity level. We think that upper-body subcutaneous fat might be suitable for determining the physical fitness of patients with OSAS.