Sleep Apnea – Unexpected, Deadly Consequences

If you suffer sleep apnea, you know how being tired during the day can put you and others in danger. You may also know that sleep apnea can cause stroke, heart attack and even dementia.

Cured My Snoring . . . Permanently

But a new study reveals more subtle consequences of sleep apnea. And one that’s more fatal than all the others put together.

Fortunately, it also reveals a possible cure for this horrendous disease.

Treatment-resistant depression and suicidal major depressive disorder are two of the worst conditions that you can possibly have, as anyone who has had them will tell you.

A study in the Journal of Psychiatric Research now offers sleep apnea as a possible cause for these conditions, and that link might lead to a solution.

The team behind the research didn’t set out to look at sleep apnea at all. They were interested in whether combining insomnia treatment with depression treatment could reduce suicidal thoughts. But, once research got underway, it struck them that a lot of their subjects with major depression also had sleep apnea.

So, they started a new study. They looked at major depressive disorder sufferers but excluded those who were at risk of sleep apnea, so think people on sleeping tablets, people with obesity and also restless leg syndrome.

But even after excluding people with these risk factors, they still found that 17 of the 125 subjects they tested either in the laboratory or at home had sleep apnea, which makes it 14 percent.

That’s nearly the same as the average occurrence of sleep apnea in the general population, even though the high-risk subjects had been excluded.

So, even though they excluded men who snored, were overweight and felt sleepy during the day, the percentage remained roughly the same. In other words, it was high.

This does not mean that depression causes sleep apnea, or that sleep apnea causes depression, but it does mean that the percentage of sleep apnea sufferers in a population of patients with major depressive disorder with suicidal thoughts is much higher than you might expect.

It’s not known why this happens, but it could be that many cases of major depressive disorder, including treatment-resistant ones (which make up half of all cases), might respond to sleep apnea treatment.

The researchers point out that people with sleep apnea are quite likely to be depressed, too, so depression treatments are unlikely to work for them because their problem is to do with sleep. They don’t have a problem with the neurotransmitters that antidepressants aim to treat, and they don’t have the kind of psychological problem that therapy might be able to help.

This means that if there are lots of hidden cases of sleep apnea among major depressives with suicidal thoughts, it might be better to treat them for sleep apnea than for depression.

Now sleep apnea obviously doesn’t always go hand in hand with depression. But it might not matter because these easy, three minutes throat exercises eliminate sleep apnea as soon as the first night…

Sleep Apnea? Two more Fatal Consequences

By now, we know that people with sleep apnea are more likely than non sufferers to develop heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

But a study in the new edition of the journal JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery shows a disease caused by sleep apnea. This one is even more serious than any previous ones known.

On the bright side, there is an easy solution for sleep apnea too.

The researchers had access to the medical records of more than 1 million adults from the Korea National Health Insurance Service. From these, they picked 197 sleep apnea sufferers for whom complete records were available. They were all diagnosed between 2004 in 2006.

To match them, they identified 788 people who matched them in age, sex, health conditions, disability, and household income, but who were free from sleep apnea.

None of their subjects had been diagnosed with depression or anxiety by the beginning of the study.

 This one is even more serious than any previous ones known

In the next 9 years, people with sleep apnea were 2.9 times more likely to develop depression and 1.75 times more likely to develop anxiety.

This is yet another reason to tackle your sleep apnea as soon as possible.

Fortunately, there are easy throat exercises – which can be found here – that open up the breathing passages and heal both snoring and sleep apnea – often on the very first night…

New Sleep Apnea Risk Factor Is Probably A Condition You Haven’t Heard Of

Smoking, obesity, being male, being older, and/or having upper airway abnormalities all put you in a much higher risk category for sleep apnea; but this is no secret – scientists have known this for quite some time.

Cure even the worst cases of snoring and sleep apnea

But new research, recently published in the journal Frontiers Medicine has added a new cause to the list, and it’s definitely not one that would ever come to mind when thinking about sleep apnea.

Fortunately, you can eliminate this cause, killing two birds with one stone.

Ankylosing spondylitis can now be added to the list (try saying that quickly).

This type of arthritis in the joints causes your spine to become inflamed.

There are huge differences between ankylosing spondylitis and sleep apnea, but researchers continue to dig deeper, as previous studies found a relationship between autoimmune diseases that involve a harmful overreaction of the immune system (like rheumatoid arthritis) and sleep apnea. Spondylitis is another such autoimmune condition.

The research team collected information from about 2,210 people that had been newly diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Research Datasets and compared them to 8,840 healthy people.

They then looked for people who had been newly diagnosed with sleep apnea and then compared the spondylitis and sleep apnea records with each other.

People with newly diagnosed spondylitis were 2.8 times more likely to also be diagnosed with new sleep apnea than the healthy controls were.

During the first 24 months after the initial spondylitis diagnosis the risk was 7.9 times as high; it then dropped to 1.8 times after 24 months.

Men with spondylitis were 4.5 times more likely to develop sleep apnea compared to women, who were 2.7 times more likely to develop it.

The risk was the highest in the 48-59 year old age group and for people with asthma, esophageal disease and hepatitis B.

Ankylosing spondylitis, like other autoimmune conditions, is a risk factor for sleep apnea, so you must keep this in mind if you are ever diagnosed with it.

The good news is you can cure your sleep apnea with these simple exercises that take just 3 minutes a day…

AND if you want to eliminate your arthritis, this how it’s done in just 21 days…

Sleep Apnea Permanently Destroys One of Your Five Senses

Diabetes and sleep apnea are two conditions that can seriously affect a person’s life and health but imagine having the two.

Sleep apnea is life threatening and so is Type 2 Diabetes.

Sleep Apnea Use Cpap

But how about suffering from both conditions, causing you to lose one of your five senses…not temporarily, but permanently?

This shocking danger of sleep apnea and diabetes was revealed in a new study presented at the 123rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Diabetes causes macular edema and sometimes blindness. It happens because high blood sugar makes the blood vessel walls in your eyes bulge outwards, causing tiny ruptures from which fluid and blood leak into your retinal tissue, resulting in inflammation and swelling in your retina.

Taiwanese scientists analyzed the information of all patients who had been diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy over an 8-year period at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan.

While 45.5 percent of diabetics without macular edema suffered from sleep apnea an incredible 80.6 percent of diabetics with macular edema did, proving a connection between sleep apnea and macular edema.

The studies implied that not only does high blood sugar cause macular edema; it also results in low blood oxygen levels due to breathing pauses.

Researchers have previously shown that sleep apnea causes damage to blood vessels by promoting inflammation and high blood pressure, which means the small blood vessels in diabetics eyes are also damaged by a variety of other cardiovascular factors.

Macular edema is potentially treatable via laser treatments if caught in time.

Follow these 3-steps to start reversing your diabetes today and have permanent results in 28 days or less…

Cure your sleep apnea starting today by following these few simple exercises that can be completed in just a matter of minutes…

Treat Your Sleep Apnea to Save Money

Previous studies have connected sleep apnea with everything from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, dementia, glaucoma, and a variety of other serious illnesses.

It has also been found to be responsible for many accidents, including on the road.

But what has saving money got to do with all this?

A new study by an American research, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, actually reveals how treating sleep apnea can save you money.

Researchers collected records of 1,098 patients who had been diagnosed with moderate to severe sleep apnea and who had also used positive airway pressure (PAP) treatments to alleviate their condition.

When investigating these participant’s adherence to the treatment, they found that 60 percent of them used it for at least 70 percent of the nights for more than four hours. On average, they used it for 5.3 hours.

They counted their participant’s number of overall acute care visits, emergency department visits, inpatient visits and stays, and the associated costs. Scheduled medical procedures like chemotherapy and other expected surgeries were excluded.

The strongest association was between PAP use and inpatient visits. For every one hour per night increase in PAP use, the participants experienced an eight percent decrease in inpatient visits.

For every one hour participants used PAP per night, they reduced their overall acute care visits by four percent. Those who used it for four hours a night cut inpatient visits by 38 percent and acute care visits by 26.

Moral of the story?

Those that adhered to the treatment were likely to have fewer (if any) medical visits, be it emergency or non-emergency ones, thus they had less to pay and ultimately reduced their healthcare costs.

Treat Your Sleep Apnea

But there is an even more powerful way to naturally cure your sleep apnea. Discover how these simple exercises can alleviate sleep apnea symptoms and even cure it as quickly as today…

What Causes Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea can be much more serious condition than simple snoring. In a patient with sleep apnea, breathing is interrupted while he sleeps. This results in poor sleep quality, severe snoring, and daytime drowsiness. Thankfully, unlike many sleep disorders, doctors have been able to determine what causes sleep apnea.

Determine what causes sleep apnea

Types

The most common type of apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. This occurs when the muscles which are supporting the soft tissue of the throat relax. This results in a narrowing or even closing of the airway; not enoug

h air can get through this reduced airway into the lungs.

With a reduced airflow into the lungs, less oxygen can get to the bloodstream and therefore less oxygen gets to the brain. Reduced oxygen to the brain can lead to injury and even death, so the brain’s protective mechanisms kick in to cause a brief period of wakefulness.

However, this is not the cause of apnea in all patients. Some people suffer from central sleep apnea, although this is less common than the previously described obstructive type. In central sleep apnea, the brain fails to send consistent signals to the muscles controlling breathing.

Diagnosis

Patients who suspect they have apnea should start by keeping a sleep journal. In this journal, a patient records the time he went to bed, how many hours he slept, how many times he woke during the night, and how refreshed he feels in the morning. Family members can contribute to the journal by reporting whether or not the patient was snoring or making any other unusual breathing sounds.

Another way to record potential symptoms is by videotaping the patient sleeping. This will easily reveal if the patient is waking during the night, even if the patient is not aware of it. It will also reveal sleeping positions and breathing sounds.

Treatments

Obstructive apnea is common in children. This is usually due to the child’s tonsils or adenoids blocking the throat during sleep. Removing these glands usually corrects the issue with minor lasting effects.

Another common group that suffer from apnea is overweight adults. Losing weight is the most effective method for treating the problem. Losing around 10% of one’s body weight usually produces drastic results. However, this is of course easier said than done for most people.

Quitting smoking will also help. Smoking cigarettes increases fluid retention in the upper airways, making obstruction more likely. It also contributes to irritation and inflammation of the throat tissues.

Sleep aids and alcohol should also be avoided. These chemicals relax the muscles, including those in the throat, which makes it more likely that sleep apnea will occur. If a patient with apnea is having trouble falling asleep, other methods to help provide restful sleep should be tried before turning to pharmaceutical sleep aids.

Sleep apnea is among the most common of sleeping disorders. Many patients don’t even realize they have it. Understanding the causes is the first step in diagnosing and dealing with the problem.

One Remedy That Will Give Full Stop To Your Snoring And Sleep Apnea

Snoring is that annoying condition that disturbs not only your sleep but the one sleeping next to you as well. Snoring can effect anyone but it is more common in men, particularly those who are over weight.

About 75% of people effected with snoring are also effected with sleep apnea, which means they tend to stop breathing for short time during their sleep. Though snoring is not a serious condition but sleep apnea is, as it can lead to heart diseases.

Why Do You Snore?

People tend to snore when the flow of air is obstructed in mouth as well as in nose. There are several factors responsible for this obstruction, they are discussed below.

1. Obstructed Nasal Airways

Some people have obstructed nasal airways and this may happen during allergy season or due to sinus. Difficulty in breathing occurs when the bone and cartilage that divide nasal cavity becomes crooked or significantly off centered. This may further lead to snoring.

2. Larger Throat Tissues

Being obese or over weight can make your throat tissues bulkier. Some people who have large tonsils often snore and this may include children as well.

3. Muscle Relaxation

Sometimes the muscles of the throat and tongue relax and block the air ways, which makes the breathing difficult. The reason for this can be aging, alcohol consumption, intake of sleeping pills.

Remedy To stop Snoring And Sleep Apnea

Below is the remedy for making mucus clearing juice that clears sinus and respiratory track and makes breathing easy.

Remedy To stop Snoring And Sleep Apnea

Ingredients:

2 Apples

2 Carrots

1 Piece of ginger

Half lemon juice

How To Make: 

Cut the ingredients into small pieces, remove the seeds of apple and peel of ginger. Now blend this in a juicer and drink this juice 2-3 hours before sleeping. You can add honey if you feel the taste strong.

Apple can clear the congestion as it contains citric acid. It can be consumed daily for clearing the mucus from the air passage.

Lemon also contains citric acid and this acid helps to drain the sinus and makes your breathing easy.

Carrot is rich in vitamin A that can help to prevent all respiratory infections at bay. It can even be helpful in clearing the sinus.

Ginger has got anti inflammatory and antibiotic properties that helps to ease the congestion during cold and flu.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms In Women

Sleep apnea symptoms in women can be hard to detect. What women often think is just being tired, getting older, or even any underlying illness can actually be sleep apnea. For this reason, it can be hard to ensure you get tested for this condition. Without testing a woman may never know they have sleep apnea and the cycle will continue.

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Women are less likely to be diagnosed with sleep apnea. This can pose a problem when trying to find the correct diagnosis. Because the condition is much rarer in women, a doctor is much less likely to consider it as a cause in the initial testing stages. This lack of consideration can lead to treatments that mask the symptoms for small periods of time making you think you are relapsing or the treatment is ineffective.

The most common symptoms in women for sleep apnea vary from those in men. The body type can also vary. In men snoring, being overweight, and being age are often the most common conditions. These are often observable at an initial appointment.

The most common symptom for women is general insomnia. Inability to sleep can be caused by many thing, but apnea is a common culprit. This can present as either difficult to fall asleep or problems with staying asleep. Both of these options can be very troubling and disturbing to normal sleeping habits.

Depression can also be caused by apnea during sleep. This is one of the symptoms that can be masked by other treatments. Depression is very serious and can often be treated aggressively. This aggressive treatment makes it hard to tell that anything else is the matter with the woman in question.

A lack of energy is also a common symptom. This is characterized by energy levels below what a woman normally has. This doesn’t need to be an extreme dip in energy level. In fact, the reason this symptom is often ignored is it can be a gradual decline.

Generalized sleepiness is also a symptom. Feelings such as inability to wake up, having trouble getting started, or wanting to marry the bed so it never has to be left, are all ways that sleepiness can present itself. Sleepiness can also appear during the middle of the day as well. Many people with sleepiness issues find themselves yawning repeatedly throughout the day or wishing for a nap at work.

All of these symptoms can be caused by other things. Even in this combination they are not a complete indicator for apnea. For this reason a sleep study may be necessary to rule out the condition. Any patient with these symptoms is encouraged to ask their doctor to schedule a sleep test.

Ruling out sleep apnea symptoms in women can be a long and complicated process. Ensuring that this process goes smoothly and ends with a proper diagnosis can be frustrating. Because so many of the symptoms are generalized, testing will be necessary in most cases. Sleep apnea is an extremely life disrupting disorder but it can be successfully treated in most cases.

Click The Image Below for a way to find relief

Sleep Apnea Symptoms In Women

An Anti-Snoring Mouthpiece For Better Quality Sleep

Snoring can be quite annoying for you and everyone in your home. Although you may be completely unconscious of it, this can mean sleepless nights for roommates, spouses, and even for others who are in an adjacent room. Many people who suffer from chronic snoring have tried everything and just can not seem to find a way to sleep quietly. Luckily, there is an answer!

Snoring Mouthpiece

Anti-snoring mouthpieces are an amazing way to cut down on embarrassing snoring while also improving your sleep patterns. Using one can mean a more restful sleep, allowing you to wake up full of energy that lasts the whole day. The device improves your oxygen flow while you sleep.

However, not all anti-snoring devices are created equal. If you are not careful, you may end up with a product that is uncomfortable and makes sleeping even more difficult! You should research your mouthpiece thoroughly before purchasing to make sure that you are getting the best product for your situation.

Because of the sheer volume of devices available, it can become overwhelming very quickly to try to choose just one. You will see many different features that you may not understand, and each of these factors is important for how the mouthpiece will affect your sleep. Do your research carefully!

One of the choices you will need to make is whether to buy a jaw-holding mouthpiece, or a tongue-holding mouthpiece. These are the broadest categories and most devices will fall into one of these categories. Choosing the right one for you is important.

Jaw-holding mouthpieces stop snoring by holding your jaw in place. This stops the vibration of the organs in the mouth which cause the sound that snoring produces. A jaw-holding mouthpiece will fit like a mouth guard that one would use in sports.

Mouthpieces that hold the jaw in place, while often effective, can sometimes cause discomfort, trigger gag reflexes, or can even become a choking hazard in some situations. These issues in addition to the tight fitting nature of the mouthpiece can make it sleep difficult for some users.

Tongue-holding mouthpieces, on the other hand, are generally considered an improvement over the more traditional jaw-holding design. These are still relatively new and are much harder to find than jaw-holding mouthpieces. Tongue-holding retainers are designed to be more comfortable and less restrictive than jaw holding models, while still preventing you from snoring.

These tongue-holding mouthpieces also help open up your airways more effectively by holding the tongue out of the way. This improved airflow lends itself to improved sleep, which can improve overall health.

An anti-snoring mouthpiece can be very effective and immprove your health as long as you find the right one for you. Purchasing a bad mouthpiece will make it much harder for you to sleep, and the mouthpiece may end up being unusable. Make sure to do your research to find a mouthpiece that’s just right for you.

Sleep Apnea Remedies That Really Work

If you are feeling tired during the day and wake up repeatedly at night, you may have sleep apnea. Apnea is a sleeping disorder which causes you to stop and start breathing throughout the night. You might snore loudly or wake suddenly in the night short of breath.

Remedies for sleep anea

You may also experience a dry mouth or sore throat when you wake up in the morning. Some people experience headaches and attention problems. Thankfully, there are plenty of sleep apnea remedies you can try that will allow you to sleep well at night.

The first place to start is by examining your lifestyle. Lose weight if you are overweight. Extra weight can cause your throat to tighten up while you sleep and cause symptoms of sleep apnea. Many people have cured themselves of sleep apnea just by losing weight. Exercise can help you lose weight and ease your symptoms. Aim for 30 minutes of exercise five days a week.

An effective remedy that you can easily do at home is changing your sleeping position. Never sleep on your back. It can make your tongue block your airway. Always sleep on your side, or even your stomach. You want to keep your airway as clear as you can so you can breathe easier. Use saline nose spray before you sleep to help keep your nasal passages moist and open. Many people find humidifiers helpful as well.

Lifestyle changes aren’t the only effective remedies to try. Continuous positive airway pressure therapy devices are effective treatments for sleep apnea. CPAP devices use air pressure to keep your airways open. You wear a mask that is attached to a CPAP machine, and the slight air pressure keeps your airways open and stops apnea from occurring. The machine also prevents snoring.

Other remedies include expiratory positive airway pressure devices. You put EPAP devices over your nostrils before you go to sleep. You breathe air in like normal, but when you breathe out, the air travels through small holes that increase pressure in your airway, keeping it open and preventing snoring. Many people find EPAP devices easier to wear, as they are smaller and more portable than CPAP machines.

Oral appliances can be an effective solution to help you to breathe better at night while you are sleeping. These devices help keep your airway open by adjusting the position of your jaw. These mouthpieces are made from plastic. They also help keep your tongue facing forward which further increases your airflow. They can also help you stop snoring. Just insert the plastic mouthpiece before you go to sleep. They fit comfortably over your teeth and work well for mild cases of sleep apnea.

Try these sleep apnea remedies and watch your symptoms improve. If these remedies don’t seem to be working or you are so sleepy during the day that you fall asleep at work or while driving, see a doctor immediately. Sleep apnea can lead to heart disease, and falling asleep while driving can put you or others in danger.

How to Use a CPAP Machine for Better Sleep

Learn more about how these medical devices can make a big difference in nighttime comfort for people with breathing issues.

CPAP

Recent advances in medical technology have greatly improved the performance of CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, machines—devices that help people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) breathe more regularly at night, resulting in a better, deeper sleep, often with less snoring.

In someone with OSA, the airway narrows or collapses during sleep, causing oxygen levels to fall, which triggers the brain to wake the person briefly in order to re-open the airway. This is not only disruptive to sleep, but also can increase the body’s stress response which in turn raises the risk for developing higher blood pressure, heart attacks, and stroke.

CPAP works by blowing air into the throat via a mask, subtly increasing air pressure in the throat and preventing the airway from narrowing. The machine offers several benefits, such as reduced daytime fatigue, improved focus, lower blood pressure, and lower risk of heart disease and other medical conditions.

There are a few things to look for to ensure your CPAP machine is effective. First, it’s important that the seal over your airways is tight enough to allow for continuous air pressure from your CPAP. There are several variations of the CPAP mask, including nasal or full face, and they come in many shapes and sizes, so it’s best to try a few and see which style fits your face most comfortably.

Also, look for machines that include a humidifier, as the airflow from the CPAP can dry out your mouth and nose. Some machines now include built-in heaters that warm the moist air first.

If you want to guarantee you’re making the most of your machine, proper care and maintenance is necessary. Using distilled water will prevent any build up from natural minerals found in tap water. You can clean a CPAP machine in a variety of ways, starting with the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions. You should wash the mask daily or after every use. Headgear can be washed weekly or bi-weekly. Clean parts by soaking them in a white vinegar solution (use one-part vinegar to three-parts warm water) and then let them air dry.

The CPAP’s humidifier chamber should be washed each day. To clean it, empty the chamber, then gently scrub it with a soft cloth, soap, and warm water. Alternately, you can use the vinegar solution to soak the chamber, as the acidity is great for removing build up of bacteria. Just be sure to rinse thoroughly after. Clean and replace the filters based on the manufacturer’s instructions.

The machine’s tubing should also be cleaned at least once a week. To wash these parts, use warm water and a mild detergent. There are also cleaning brushes that are designed specifically to ft the needs of cleaning CPAP equipment and accessories, which you can find online or buy in medical supply stores.

Many masks have nasal pillows, and you should wash these parts at least every other day for maximum cleanliness using a little soap and warm water. You can also use cleansing wipes. After washing, allow the nasal pillows to air dry.

How to Use a CPAP Machine for Better Sleep

CPAP machines provide relief for many people with OSA. Your physician or sleep specialist will be able to tell you how to use the device for maximum effectiveness. Schedule regular appointments to discuss how you are feeling in response to CPAP therapy. Some machines have data that you can download and share with your doctor to determine if the settings on the machine are still effective. For instance, the data can indicate if there are any issues with your mask or if you need to adjust the pressure settings, which your doctor can do for you.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep Apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep. Learn how to cope with this sleep-related breathing disorder.

what is sleep apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep. The “apnea” in sleep apnea refers to a breathing pause that lasts at least ten seconds. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the back of the throat fail to keep the airway open, despite efforts to breathe. Another form of sleep apnea is central sleep apnea, in which the brain fails to properly control breathing during sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea is far more common than central sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea, or simply sleep apnea, can cause fragmented sleep and low blood oxygen levels. For people with sleep apnea, the combination of disturbed sleep and oxygen starvation may lead to hypertension, heart disease and mood and memory problems. Sleep apnea also increases the risk of drowsy driving.

Who Has Sleep Apnea?

More than 18 million American adults have sleep apnea. It is very difficult at present to estimate the prevalence of childhood OSA because of widely varying monitoring techniques, but a minimum prevalence of 2 to 3% is likely, with prevalence as high as 10 to 20% in habitually snoring children. OSA occurs in all age groups and both sexes.

What Causes Sleep Apnea?

There are a number of factors that increase risk, including having a small upper airway (or large tongue, tonsils or uvula), being overweight, having a recessed chin, small jaw or a large overbite, a large neck size (17 inches or greater in a man, or 16 inches or greater in a woman), smoking and alcohol use, being age 40 or older, and ethnicity (African-Americans, Pacific-Islanders and Hispanics). Also, OSA seems to run in some families, suggesting a possible genetic basis.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

Chronic snoring is a strong indicator of sleep apnea and should be evaluated by a health professional. Since people with sleep apnea tend to be sleep deprived, they may suffer from sleeplessness and a wide range of other symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, depression, irritability, sexual dysfunction, learning and memory difficulties, and falling asleep while at work, on the phone, or driving. Left untreated, symptoms of sleep apnea can include disturbed sleep, excessive sleepiness during the day, high blood pressure, heart attack, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, stroke or depression.

Treatment for Sleep Apnea

If you suspect you may have sleep apnea, the first thing to do is see your doctor. Bring with you a record of your sleep, fatigue levels throughout the day, and any other symptoms you might be having. Ask your bed partner if he or she notices that you snore heavily, choke, gasp, or stop breathing during sleep. Be sure to take an updated list of medications, including over the counter medications, with you any time you visit a doctor for the first time. You may want to call your medical insurance provider to find out if a referral is needed for a visit to a sleep center.

One of the most common methods used to diagnose sleep apnea is a sleep study, which may require an overnight stay at a sleep center. The sleep study monitors a variety of functions during sleep including sleep state, eye movement, muscle activity, heart rate, respiratory effort, airflow, and blood oxygen levels. This test is used both to diagnose sleep apnea and to determine its severity. Sometimes, treatment can be started during the first night in the sleep center.

The treatment of choice for obstructive sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure device (CPAP). CPAP is a mask that fits over the nose and/or mouth, and gently blows air into the airway to help keep it open during sleep. This method of treatment is highly effective. Using the CPAP as recommended by your doctor is very important.

Other methods of treating sleep apnea include: dental appliances which reposition the lower jaw and tongue; upper airway surgery to remove tissue in the airway; nasal expiratory positive airway pressure where a disposable valve covers the nostrils; and treatment using hypoglossal nerve stimulation where a stimulator is implanted in the patient’s chest with leads connected to the hypoglossal nerve that controls tongue movement as well as to a breathing sensor. The sensor monitors breathing patterns during sleep and stimulates the hypoglossal nerve to move the tongue to maintain an open airway.

Lifestyle changes are effective ways of mitigating symptoms of sleep apnea. Here are some tips that may help reduce apnea severity:

• Lose weight. If you are overweight, this is the most important action you can take to cure your sleep apnea (CPAP only treats it; weight loss can cure it in the overweight person).
• Avoid alcohol; it causes frequent nighttime awakenings, and makes the upper airway breathing muscles relax.
• Quit smoking. Cigarette smoking worsens swelling in the upper airway, making apnea (and snoring) worse.
• Some patients with mild sleep apnea or heavy snoring have fewer breathing problems when they are lying on their sides instead of their backs.