Understanding and Treating Sleep Apnea: A Path to Better Health

How Sleep Apnea Drives Weight Gain, Memory Loss, High Blood Pressure, ADHD, And More | This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox

Sleep is a major cornerstone for an energetic, joyful, healthy life. Unfortunately, millions of people are affected by a condition called sleep apnea and an estimated 80% of cases go undiagnosed. Sleep apnea is an extreme form of sleep deprivation where you wake up several times throughout the night. You can’t sleep, you can’t breathe, and as a result, you lack oxygen. You don’t even realize you’re waking up throughout the night. This lack of sleep drives weight gain and blood sugar imbalances. It can also raise your risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and more.

In this minisode, Dr. Hyman speaks with his colleagues at The UltraWellness Center, Dr. George Papanicolaou, Dr. Elizabeth Boham, and Maggie Ward, about patients they have treated for sleep apnea. They share cases on issues ranging from anxiety to low libido to high blood pressure in which sleep apnea was a contributing factor.

George Papanicolaou is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and is Board Certified in Family Medicine from Abington Memorial Hospital. He is also an Institute for Functional Medicine Practitioner. Upon graduation from his residency he joined the Indian Health Service. He worked on the Navajo reservation for 4 years at the Chinle Comprehensive Medical Facility where he served as the Outpatient Department Coordinator. In 2000, he founded Cornerstone Family Practice in Rowley, MA. He practiced with a philosophy centered on personal relationships and treating the whole person, not just not the disease. He called that philosophy “Whole Life Wellness”. Over time as the healthcare system made it harder for patients to receive this kind of personal care Dr. Papanicolaou decided a change was needed. He began training in Functional Medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine. In 2015, he established Cornerstone Personal Health—a practice dedicated entirely to Functional Medicine. Dr. Papanicolaou joined The UltraWellness Center in 2017.

Elizabeth Boham is a physician and nutritionist who practices Functional Medicine at The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA. Through her practice and lecturing she has helped thousands of people achieve their goals of optimum health and wellness. She witnesses the power of nutrition every day in her practice and is committed to training other physicians to utilize nutrition in healing. Dr. Boham has contributed to many articles and wrote the latest chapter on Obesity for the Rankel Textbook of Family Medicine. She is part of the faculty of the Institute for Functional Medicine and has been featured on the Dr. Oz show and in a variety of publications and media including Huffington Post, The Chalkboard Magazine, and Experience Life. Her DVD Breast Wellness: Tools to Prevent and Heal from Breast Cancer explores the Functional Medicine approach to keeping your breasts and whole body well.

Maggie Ward, MS, RD, LDN is the Nutrition Director at The UltraWellness Center. Maggie holds a master’s degree in Nutrition from Bastyr University which focuses on using whole foods for holistic Nutrition Therapy. In addition, she completed her requirements to become a registered dietitian at Westchester Medical Center in NY. Prior to joining The UltraWellness Center team in 2008, Maggie worked at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York providing nutrition counseling to children and families dealing with HIV. She also taught at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan and other sites throughout New York City, teaching nutritionally focused cooking classes for children and adults. Much of her focus is on food allergies, digestive disorders, inflammatory conditions, Pediatrics and Sports Nutrition. Maggie has been counseling individuals, families and business groups on therapeutic diets to address various health concerns for more than 15 years. Her ongoing clinical training through the Institute for Functional Medicine uses a systems biology approach when working with those who suffer from chronic and acute conditions to help them find their path to healing. She has a passion for cooking and reconnecting people with their potential to heal using whole, organic and local foods.

This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox. When you sign up to ButcherBox today, you’ll get 2 lbs of wild-caught Alaskan salmon free in your first box plus $10 off. Just go to butcherbox.com/farmacy. 

Find Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Dr. George Papanicolaou, “Treating The Underlying Causes Of High Blood Pressure” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/HighBloodPressure

Find Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Dr. George Papanicolaou, “Is Anxiety All In Your Head, Or Is It In Your Body?” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/Anxiety

Find Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Boham, “Why Eating Less and Exercising More is a Recipe for Weight Gain” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/WeightGain

Find Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Maggie Ward, “Is Gluten-Free A Fad Or Is Gluten A Real Threat To Our Health?” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/Gluten

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