Surgery 'corrects sleep disorder'/Taste buds stimulated by hunger

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Surgery 'corrects sleep disorder'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3493289.stm

 

Sleep disorders are on the increase

A relatively limited form of throat surgery may be more effective at

correcting a common sleep disorder than more invasive alternatives.

Researchers from Taipei's Chang Gung Memorial Hospital achieved an 82%

success rate when they operated on sleep apnoea patients.

 

The research, which was only based on 55 patients, is published in the

journal Archives of Otolaryngology.

 

However, UK experts have expressed doubts about the study's validity.

 

Sleep apnoea causes snoring and interruptions in breathing.

 

This forces the sufferer to wake up in order to start breathing again.

Sometimes this can happen up to 100 times a night.

 

Standard surgery for severe sleep apnoea involves removing some of the

tissue in the throat to widen the airway. However, it usually only works in

about half of cases.

 

The new technique - called uvulopalatal flap surgery - removes fatty

tissues, soft glands and the tonsils to increase airway space, but spares

muscle tissue.

 

Patients who had the surgery said they snored less, were less sleepy during

the day and had higher oxygen levels in their blood.

 

It is unclear why the new operation should work better.

 

Alternative treatment

 

Frank Govan, chairman of the UK Sleep Apnoea Trust, told BBC News Online he

would not recommend anybody to have surgery.

 

" There is a tendency to recommend surgery, but I would not go anywhere near

it, " he said.

 

" I have talked to any number of people who have been damaged by it. "

 

Mr Govan said a technique called continuous positive airway pressure was a

far more effective way to treat sleep apnoea.

 

This is involves wearing a mask which blows air under pressure up the nose,

down the airways and out of the mouth to keep the airways open.

 

Marianne Davey, of the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, raised

questions about the criteria for success and how results were interpreted.

 

She said the findings indicated that in some instances, patients merely

registered an improvement in their symptoms, rather than a cure.

 

She said no long-term follow up had been carried out, and it was possible

that after one or two years, the patients' symptoms may be as bad as before

surgery

 

She told BBC News Online: " In my experience, patients put themselves forward

for surgery in order to eliminate sleep apnoea and not just to reduce it.

 

" I would not recommend sleep apnoea patients to undertake this operation

without the recommendation of a specialist in sleep disordered medicine, and

only then if the surgeon can demonstrate considerable effectiveness two

years following surgery. "

 

SEE ALSO:

Bill to boost sleep disorder care

10 Feb 04 | Health

Sleep disorder 'damages brain'

04 Sep 03 | Health

Brain chemistry link to sleep disorders

08 Jul 03 | Health

Brain damage link to sleep disorder

19 Nov 02 | Health

Sleep disorder linked to depression

01 Mar 02 | Health

 

Taste buds stimulated by hunger

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3506259.stm

 

Hunger can increase cravings for fatty food

A scientist has produced evidence to confirm what anyone on a diet could

tell you - that food tastes better when you are hungry.

Professor Yp Zverev at the University of Malawi experimented on 16 men who

agreed to forfeit breakfast each day.

 

He found the volunteers had increased sensitivity to salt and sugar when

hungry, but were equally sensitive to bitterness before and after eating.

 

The study was published in the journal BMC Neuroscience.

 

A link to obesity

 

Professor Zverev said the constant recognition of bitterness suggests the

body is able to detect substances that are toxic.

 

" There are many things that drive us to eat, one is hunger, and one is

palatability. "

 

Amanda Wynne, British Dietetic Association

He said this is the body's natural mechanism for rejecting food that is not

suitable for consumption.

 

He suggests that a person has a higher sensitivity to salt and sugar when

hungry because the body is trying to tell the person they need to eat.

 

After eating, volunteers' sensitivity to salt and sugar reduced

significantly.

 

None of the participants were drinkers, smokers, or suffered from obesity or

bad hygiene. Any one of these factors can normally impair a person's ability

to taste.

 

Amanda Wynne, spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, said the

findings suggest people have a natural disposition towards fatty foods.

 

" This study confirms what you expect to happen as the hunger drive kicks

in, " she told BBC Online.

 

" There are many things that drive us to eat, one is hunger, and one is

palatability.

 

" We live in a country with extremely high rates of obesity. so it is

interesting that our taste buds take us to these foods. "

 

She believes our genes are not yet adapted to the society we live in, as in

the past, being able to put on weight quickly was a good way of storing fat

reserves for when food was scarce.

 

" These days we don't need that fat reserve, which is why we're seeing such a

high obesity rate. "

 

Obesity rates in the UK have trebled in the last 20 years.