Can Sleep Apnea Kill You? Absolutely—And It Doesn’t Come Alone.

Sleep apnea can absolutely kill you. And it keeps bad company, too. The health effects of sleep apnea rarely show up alone—it brings its dangerous friends:

1. Obesity

2. Diabetes

3. Stroke

4. High blood pressure

Left untreated, this crew does more than ruin your sleep—it slowly shortens your life. And while everyone wants to get rid of the CPAP machine, the bigger issue is this: sleep apnea can quietly steal 10 years from your life. In this post, we’ll show you why—and what you can do to escape the trap.

What’s in this post:

1. How sleep apnea and obesity create a vicious cycle together

2. How poor sleep messes with hunger hormones and leads to overeating

3. How many years these diseases can take off your life

4. The latest science on weight loss drugs like Mounjaro™ and Zepbound™

5. What the risks are—and why they’re often worth it

6. Alternatives to medication if you’re not ready for drugs

7. A plan to take back control and possibly ditch your CPAP

Sleep Apnea and Obesity: A Dangerous Cycle

Sleep apnea wakes you up all night—sometimes without you knowing. This messes with your sleep quality and throws off your hunger hormones. Leptin, which tells you you’re full, drops. Ghrelin, which makes you feel hungry, goes up. That combo makes you crave high-calorie foods (1).

One study showed that under-slept people eat 300–900 more calories per day (2). Over time, that kind of overconsumption leads to weight gain.

Weight gain makes sleep apnea worse. Fat around the neck can block your airway at night. Just a 10% increase in body weight can make sleep apnea six times more likely (3). This creates a trap: bad sleep → more hunger → more weight gain → worse sleep apnea → even worse sleep. And on it goes.

Sleep Apnea and Disease

Sleep apnea doesn’t just leave you tired. It hurts your heart, your blood sugar, and your brain. This can cause ripple effects across your health.

Percent of Stroke Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Select Condition: Stroke Hard to Treat Blood Pressure High Blood Pressure Diabetes Obesity (BMI over 30) Severe Obesity (BMI over 35)

Have Sleep Apnea (70%)

Do Not Have Sleep Apnea (30%)

Sleep apnea causes oxygen levels to drop and stress hormones to spike. This can lead to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and heart failure (4). Almost 40% of people with high blood pressure also have sleep apnea. In people with hard-to-treat high blood pressure, that number jumps to 80% (4).

Obesity is not just the main risk factor in OSA, it makes weight gain even worse. 72% of people with obesity had OSA (19).

Sleep apnea is also linked to type 2 diabetes. About 70% of people with diabetes have it (5). The worse the sleep apnea, the worse their blood sugar control (6). Add obesity to the mix and the risks go even higher (7).

If you have a history of a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA or “mini stroke”) then you should know that around 70% of stroke patients had sleep apnea in the lead up to their stroke (18).

How Many Years of Life Are Lost?

Let’s look at how many years these diseases can take off your life:

Sleep apnea and obesity can be just as dangerous—if not more—than many other serious conditions.

Weight Loss Improves Sleep Apnea

There’s good news. Losing weight helps sleep apnea—fast.

A 10% weight loss can cut the number of apnea episodes in half (8). Another study found that for every 1% of body weight you lose, your sleep apnea improves by 2.6% (8). With enough weight loss, many can people move from severe sleep apnea to mild—or none at all.

New Medications: Mounjaro™ and Zepbound™

Mounjaro™ (tirzepatide) was approved in 2022 for diabetes. In 2023, the FDA approved Zepbound™ for weight loss (17). Both are the same drug but used for different reasons.

They work by helping you feel full faster and stay full longer. In studies, people lost 15–20% of their body weight—about 30 to 50 pounds for someone starting at 250 pounds (9).

In head-to-head trials, Zepbound helped people lose more weight than semaglutide (Wegovy®) (10). This level of weight loss can lead to huge improvements in sleep apnea (8).

Risk vs. Reward: Should You Take a GLP-1?

Let’s look at the risks of each approach:

GLP-1 Medications (Zepbound™, Mounjaro™)
Nausea, vomiting, constipation (17)
Gallbladder issues (9)
Rare risk of pancreatitis (17)
Boxed warning: thyroid tumors in animals (17)
Expensive and not always covered (9)

Leaving Disease Untreated
Heart attack (7)
Type 2 diabetes (5)
Stroke (7)
10+ years of life lost (13)
Daily exhaustion and poor life quality (7)

Don't Want Meds? You're Not Alone, and Not Out of Options, Either

If you’re not ready for medication, you still have options.

CBT for weight loss can help change how you think about food and build healthier habits. Add 30 minutes of movement three times per week, and you’re on your way.

Some people start GLP-1s and taper off once they’ve made lasting changes. Others never take meds at all. What matters most is that you find a path that works for you.

Start Now—Your Health Is Waiting

You don’t have to stay stuck in the cycle. Sleep apnea and obesity can be treated—together.

Make an appointment with your doctor today. Ask about getting tested for sleep apnea and discuss weight loss options. With the right plan, you might even be able to get off your CPAP machine for good.

References

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10. Frías JP, Davies MJ, Rosenstock J, Pérez Manghi FC, Fernández Landó L, Bergman BK, et al. Tirzepatide versus semaglutide in patients with type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med. 2021;385(6):503–15.

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