Sleep apnea may sabotage your diet

"If you're among the many Canadians who suffer from sleep apnea - a disorder that increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and depression - your symptoms could be sabotaging your diet. According to a study published last month in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, adults with the most severe symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea ate a diet higher in calories, cholesterol and artery-clogging saturated fat than those with less severe symptoms. Obstructive sleep apnea - the most common form of sleep apnea - occurs when the upper airway gets completely or partly blocked during sleep, and breathing briefly stops. These breathing pauses, or apneas, can last up to 30 seconds and can happen many times throughout the night. The brain senses the breathing difficulty and rouses you from sleep to reopen your airway" - Globe and Mail