My Doctor Told Me I Have Sleep Apnea

Heavy Snorers May Be At Risk for Sleep Apnea
By Minh Nguyen

Sleep apnea literally means, "stop breathing during sleep," and that is exactly what happens to thousands of people who are affected by the disorder. Millions more are undiagnosed because their symptoms are simply explained away as tiredness or other factors. If someone has sleep apnea, a neurological problem causes soft tissues to repeatedly block the airway during sleep, causing the sufferer to literally gasp for air.

Symptoms and features of sleep apnea include:


Excessive sleepiness during the day, lack of concentration, forgetfulness;
High blood pressure;
Obesity;
Loud snoring, snorting or gasping;
Irritability;
Depression;
Excessive sweating at night;
Insomnia or restless sleep; and
Confusion upon wakening and morning headaches

Usually a partner recognizes symptoms before the patient, because the person sharing a room is all too aware of the loud snoring, a sudden snort or gasp for air, and constant restlessness. Someone with sleep apnea can actually stop breathing for about 10 seconds at a time, up to 400 times in one night!

Sleep apnea can be attributed to physical features, such as a receding chin or large neck, and external factors, such as use of sleeping pills, obesity, nighttime alcoholic beverages, heartburn and high altitudes.

The facts of sleep apnea are:


An estimated 18-25 million people have sleep apnea;
Less than one million people realize it;
Probably 30-40 million people have some kind of sleep disorder and most are unaware of it;
Sleep disorders add 15.9 billion to the total health care bill in the United States;
Severe sleep apnea sufferers stop breathing more than 50 times per hour;
10% of men of working age, 2% of women and 3% of children have sleep apnea;
Obese children are four times as likely to suffer from sleep apnea than children of average weight;
African-American children are 3 times more at risk than children of other races;
56,000 automobile crashes stem annually from driver fatigue; and
Drivers with sleep disorders often react slower than drivers slightly above the legal alcohol limit.

You are more at risk if you are:


African American;
Living in a rural area;
Between 40 and 65 years old;
A smoker;
Drink alcohol at night; and
Diabetic.

Consequences:

There are serious consequences to ignoring this potentially life-threatening disorder. If untreated, your risk of heart attack, heart disease and stroke is higher. The risk of accidents is also increased because if you drive or operate machinery, you may not be as focused as you could be after a restful sleep.

How to diagnose sleep apnea:

Most physicians are not trained extensively in sleep disorders and do not usually focus on them. You should be aware of the symptoms, and if you believe you or someone you love may have this problem, contact our office or your physician. A sleep test is usually performed to monitor the extent of the problem. Additionally, a special questionnaire may help determine whether the symptoms indicate sleep apnea.

Relief for the chronic snorer:

If you are not diagnosed with sleep apnea, as a habitual snorer you may be able to receive help with an anti-snoring dental device. There are many different devices available to you. This pliable plastic appliance should be carefully fitted by us to ensure it will stay in place while you sleep.

For information, contact Houston dentist-Minh Nguyen, D.D.S. at drnguyen@softdental.com. SoftDental (http://www.softdental.com) is Houston's Premier Laser, Family and Cosmetic Dentistry.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Minh_Nguyen

Labels: apnea, how to stop snoring, prevent snoring, reduce snoring, sleep apnea, sleeping disorder, snoring, snoring apnea, snoring treatments

Sleep Apnea - The Hidden Killer
By Elizabeth Beresford

Do you snore very loudly when you are asleep? If you have a bed partner you will know the answer to that question, but if you live alone you may not. Are feeling extreme fatigue and irritability? Have you been feeling depressed lately but aren't sure why? Maybe you have been to more than one doctor but nothing they said or did has helped. You could be suffering from sleep apnea. This is especially likely if you are very overweight, although slim folk can have it too.

The cause of sleep apnea is that the soft tissues of the throat collapse, narrowing or even completely blocking the air flow for as long as a minute. The lack of oxygen causes the victim to show all the signs of suffocation before finally waking and beginning to breath again. Then almost immediately he, it usually is a he, goes back to sleep and the whole cycle begins again.

It is estimated that 50 million Americans suffer from this nightly scourge. Not only that but it is thought that apnea is responsible for 38,000 fatal heart attacks and strokes each year. That was 14 years ago when it was presented to the US Congress National Committee on Sleep Disorders. By now, with the increase in obesity it is surely higher. Sleep apnea can also make you ill simply by depriving you of sufficient sleep.

If you think you may have sleep apnea take immediate action because its a killer. Sleep apnea deprives you of sleep and of life giving oxygen every night. You may struggle for breath up to 100 times a night. Its most likely that you won't remember anything about it. But you will feel the effects. Your sleep debt will mount up because you are losing around a third of your nightly sleep time. Its a form of insomnia that is hidden from the sufferer.

If you have someone who sleeps with you ask them to help in the diagnosis by watching while you sleep for one night. Tell them this could save your life. With paper and pen, your partner should record the number of times there is a disruption in your breathing. It's easy to tell because you'll either stop breathing, or you'll make gasping, choking or snorting sounds as you attempt to get your breath back. Making notes about your snoring is also helpful. If you sleep alone get a tape recorder and set it to 'record on demand' while you sleep.

The results of this investigation are important. You must get treatment if it indicates that you may be suffering from sleep apnea. The first thing to do is to do is to request a sleep test so that an absolute diagnosis can be confirmed. This involves spending a night in a sleep center so that your sleeping pattern can be monitored.

Treatments For Sleep Apnea

1. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) treatment. This involves using a small machine with a mask that fits over your nose. The mouth is kept closed with a chin strap. The machine blows air under pressure into your nose to keep the airway open.

2. Using a dental device to keep the lower jaw from falling backwards when you sleep.

3. A surgical treatment called UPPP that involves cutting away soft tissue at the back of the mouth and throat. This treatment isn't recommended as it has been shown to be ineffective in 90% of people treated for sleep apnea, although it is effective for snoring alone.

4.Stanford University developed another surgical treatment which is much more successful. The sleep specialists there have improved on UPPP by adding a procedure to pull the back of the tongue out from the throat and attaching it to a small piece of bone cut from the jaw. The piece of bone is then twisted and fixed so that it can not fall back and block the throat. With the tongue pushed forward in this way an additional space of one centimeter is created in the throat. This treatment sounds horrible but it has a high success rate of 60 to 70 percent.

5. A more recent treatment has been developed that shrinks the tissue at the back of the throat. This is a simple procedure that is performed under local anesthetic. Its very much less painful than the surgical procedure and unlike CPAP doesn't require you to wear a machine at night. If you have sleep apnea ask about this treatment.

Whatever you do you must not ignore sleep apnea. If your primary care physician will not refer you to a sleep specialist find another doctor.

This article was written by Liz Beresford.

Visit Liz's websites: Insomnia Gone

http://www.insomnia-gone.com for more
information about sleep. For an insomnia cure that really works go to her other sleep site

http://www.sleep-sound.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elizabeth_Beresford

Labels: apnea, sleep apnea, sleeping disorder