Snorers Burn More Calories During the Day

Dec. 17 -- TUESDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- People who snore burn more calories when they're resting during the day than people who sleep quietly through the night, new research shows.

However, the calorie expenditure doesn't seem to be enough to balance the extra weight that often accompanies the condition, also known as sleep apnea.

"There are a lot of other factors that are going on that lead to a net increase in body weight," said Dr. Michael Thorpy, director of the Sleep Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "It's not enough to counteract the weight gain from other sources."

The study, published in the December issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, may give insight into the basic biological underpinnings of such disorders.

"We want to figure out how to treat people with this disorder. Losing weight dramatically decreases obstructive sleep apnea in those who are overweight. But the success with behavioral interventions and bariatric surgery have been inconsistent," said study author Dr. Eric J. Kezirian, director of the division of sleep surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. "This study examined one of the important ways that obstructive sleep apnea can affect body weight. There are many things we do not understand about the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and body weight, and this is one."

Obesity and sleep apnea are closely intertwined.

"People with sleep apnea have a greater chance of being obese, and obese patients have a greater chance of having sleep apnea," said Dr. Jordan Josephson, a sinus specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and author of Sinus Relief Now.

But it's unclear which is the chicken and which is the egg, Kezirian said.

This cross-sectional study, conducted by Kezirian and senior study investigator Dr. Nelson B. Powell, of Stanford University, measured daytime resting energy expenditure of 212 adults both with and without sleep-disordered breathing. The mean body-mass index was 28.3 (at the high end of overweight).