A Fatal Sleep Disorder

Posted by Apnea
Categorized Under: Sleep Apnea Breathing Machine
Dated: 13 Dec 2009
Comments: 0

Sleep Apnea is a serious sleep disorder that can be life threatening and at times fatal. People with sleep apnea often fall asleep normally; however, once asleep their ability to breathe is blocked. Usually this inability to breathe is caused by the muscles in the throat relaxing too much and collapsing into the airway. The body then sends a signal to the brain that breathing has temporarily been blocked. This causes the person to wake up and start breathing again.  The cycle of interrupted breathing can occur many times throughout the night. These episodes can occur up to 50 times an hour and last for ten seconds or longer. Often the person that suffers from this sleep disorder is unaware that anything is happening to them. They can not understand why they always feel tired during the daytime. The most common form of this sleep disorder is obstructive sleep apnea, known as OSA. Some sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea also suffer from cental sleep apnea. This sleep disorder is then called mixed sleep apnea. It is believed that obstructive sleep apnea affects between 18 – 20% of the adults in the United States. If this sleep disorder is left untreated in can become life threatening and in rare cases fatal. It is the underlaying cause of illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, pulmonary hypertension and systemic hypertension. There are several method of treatments for sleep apnea, both surgical and noninvasive. The first line of therapy for someone suffering from moderate to severe sleep apnea is called positive airway pressure. Known as PAP, positive airway pressure is a noninvasive form of treatment. A machine delivers a constant flow of air through a mask that is worn while sleeping. The force of the air flow must be determined by a sleep technician during an overnight sleep study. There are three types of positive air pressure therapy, CPAP, BiPAP and AutoPAP. Dental devices are also used to treat this sleep disorder in mild to moderate cases. Dental devices fall into two general categories: mandibular, or lower jaw, advancing devices or tongue retaining devices. Mandibular devices are used most often. They attach to the upper jaw and pull the lower jaw and base of the tongue forward. This shift in position keeps the airway open. Medications are generally not a successful form of treatment for most people with sleep apnea. However, many of them do take antidepressants and mondafinal. Supplemental oxygen is often used in conjunction with a PAP machine. Oxygen alone can not prevent the collapse of the airway or sleep fragmentation. However, oxygen can prevent the drop in the level of blood oxygen that occurs when the airway collapses.  There are also surgical treatments for obstructive sleep apnea that may be an option for some sufferers of this sleep disorder. These include uvulopalatophrayngoplasty, somnoplasty, corrective jaw surgery, palatal implants and tracheostomy. People with this sleep disorder generally find that their quality of life can improve with the proper treatment.

Sleep Apnea – the Sleep Disorder That’s Hard to Trace

Posted by Apnea
Categorized Under: Sleep Apnea
Dated: 13 Nov 2009
Comments: 0

One of the most common sleep disorders in the world is sleep apnea, affecting millions of people each year.  Sleep apnea occurs when a person stops breathing while they are asleep, for at least 10 seconds according to many medical journals.  This can happen multiple times during the night, sometimes resulting in the person awakening and sometimes with the person remaining asleep but acting restless during the night.Sleep apnea can result in chronic fatigue for the person affected by the condition.  Because the person’s inability to breathe is disrupting their sleep at night, whether they awaken or not, the person is not getting the quality sleep that will allow them to awake refreshed in the morning.  After consecutive nights of this occurring, the person will become fatigued, irritable, and drowsy during the day.Sleep apnea can be a difficult condition to diagnose because the person may be unaware that they stop breathing in their sleep.  All that they know is that they may wake up in the middle of the night for no reason and even when they do sleep through the night, they are still tired when they awake.  It may take months or years to determine the actual cause of the person’s restlessness at night and during that time the person will continue to experience episodes of sleep apnea and may even become conditioned to its effects.Treating sleep apnea can also be difficult because of the nature of the condition.  Different treatments may be used but their effectiveness can be difficult to judge without a third party observing the sleeping behavior of the affected person.  The condition is usually diagnosed by a loved one observing the interrupted sleep pattern of the person.  The loved one also the person that observes the effects of the treatment and tells the doctor whether or not it is working.The treatments used for sleep apnea cover a wide variety of options.  Choosing the option that is best for a person’s condition will depend on the type of sleep apnea affecting them and how severe the condition is.  Some people are helped by changing the position that they sleep in at night while others will need some sort of medical device to help them keep their airways open while they sleep.  If the person’s condition is severe, then there are medical and surgical options that can be used to give the patient some relief from their condition.  Sleep apnea is a condition that can be devastating to the people that it affects, but there are ways to reduce the effects that sleep apnea has on a person’s life.

Sleep Apnea – The Silent Sleep Disorder

Posted by Apnea
Categorized Under: Sleep Apnea
Dated: 13 Nov 2009
Comments: 0

One of the most common sleep disorders in the world is sleep apnea, affecting millions of people each year. Sleep apnea occurs when a person stops breathing while they are asleep, for at least 10 seconds according to many medical journals. This can happen multiple times during the night, sometimes resulting in the person awakening and sometimes with the person remaining asleep but acting restless during the night.
Sleep apnea can result in chronic fatigue for the person affected by the condition. Because the person’s inability to breathe is disrupting their sleep at night, whether they awaken or not, the person is not getting the quality sleep that will allow them to awake refreshed in the morning. Ideally each of us needs 3 hours of uniterrupted sleep for our bodys to properly recharge and repair itself during the night. Constant interruption of this resting and healing phase while we’re asleep can cause the sufferer constant hardship through extreme fatigue. The persons health will also start to suffer after several months of such problems. After consecutive nights of this occurring, the person will become fatigued, irritable, and drowsy during the day.
Sleep apnea can be a difficult condition to diagnose because the person may be unaware that they stop breathing in their sleep- simply because they’re asleep and have no awareness that anything has actually happened to them at all. All that they know is that they may wake up in the middle of the night for no reason and even when they do sleep through the night, they are still tired when they awake. It may take months or years to determine the actual cause of the person’s restlessness at night and during that time the person will continue to experience episodes of sleep apnea and may even become conditioned to its effects.
Treating sleep apnea can also be difficult because of the nature of the condition. Different treatments may be used but their effectiveness can be difficult to judge without a third party observing the sleeping behavior of the affected person. The condition is usually diagnosed by a loved one observing the interrupted sleep pattern of the person. The loved one also the person that observes the effects of the treatment and tells the doctor whether or not it is working.
The treatments used for sleep apnea cover a wide variety of options. Choosing the option that is best for a person’s condition will depend on the type of sleep apnea affecting them and how severe the condition is. Some people are helped by changing the position that they sleep in at night while others will need some sort of medical device to help them keep their airways open while they sleep. If the person’s condition is severe, then there are medical and surgical options that can be used to give the patient some relief from their condition. Sleep apnea is a condition that can be devastating to the people that it affects, but there are ways to reduce the effects that sleep apnea has on a person’s life.