At least 40 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep disorders each year. This is according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. A sleep disorder or somnipathy is any disorder in the sleep patterns of an individual, which may result to sleep deprivation and which when left untreated can interfere with one’s work and social activities. Sleep disorders produce negative effects on an individual’s physical and mental well-being. For these reasons, the Sleep Disorder Alliance strives to counter the negative effects of sleep disorders and promote health and well-being to all.Click Here For Sleep Disorder Alliance Free Trial Now!It is estimated that over a hundred different types of sleep disorders exist, which include obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, and advanced or delayed sleep phase syndrome.Obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by episodes of cessation of breathing during sleep. The term may be used to describe difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, and even premature awakening. Narcolepsy or sleep attack is a chronic neurological disorder which impairs the ability of your central nervous system to regulate sleep. Restless legs syndrome or akathisia is a neurological disorder characterized by uncomfortable, tingly, or creeping sensations in your legs, which create an uncontrollable urge to keep them moving. This condition may also be experienced by people taking antipsychotic drugs and is not confined to sleeping. Delayed sleep phase syndrome is a chronic disorder of sleep timing, resulting to falling asleep very late and having difficulty waking up in the morning. Advanced sleep phase syndrome, on the other hand, occurs when a person feels very sleep early in the evening and wakes up very early at night.Sleep disorders may alter one’s physiologic and psychosocial functioning. That is why Sleep Disorder Alliance is leading the fight against sleep disorders once and for all.
Layne Melzer awoke around 8 a.m. Jan. 6 and looked at his 6-week-old son, Shane, beside him. Most mornings, it was the baby who roused him at dawn with lusty yells for food, so Melzer was surprised to find Shane still asleep. Then he took a closer look. Shane’s skin was dusky, and he did not seem to be breathing. Melzer jiggled him tentatively, but the baby did not rouse. His color was darker now. Bluish.
Yelling to his wife to call 911, Melzer grabbed Shane and shook him — hard this time. The baby’s eyes opened at one point, but his gaze was blank.
Frantically trying to recall resuscitation techniques, Melzer put his mouth over Shane’s and puffed twice. Then he turned the baby over and slapped him on the back. He slapped him again, and then a third time. Suddenly Shane gulped for air and began to cry. A moment later, the rescue squad arrived.
The crisis, though, was far from over. By noon, Shane was admitted to Childrens Hospital of Orange County with a tentative diagnosis of severe apnea.
The term apnea comes from the Latin words a and pneuma, which means without air. Medically, it refers to pauses in breathing.
The main consequence of apnea is damage to the brain and heart because of repeated periods of inadequate oxygen. A baby with untreated apnea can, in later years, exhibit learning and behavioral problems, even cerebral palsy, associated with brain damage.
Shane Melzer’s problem was central apnea, exacerbated by a viral infection.
Shane’s breathing pauses were found to be frequent, long and responsible for repeated episodes of bradycardia — the medical term for an abnormally slow heart rate. He met all the criteria for a diagnosis of severe apnea. Two days after being admitted to CHOC, he was transferred to the intensive care unit.
He just got worse. At 3:30 the morning following his transfer, the Melzers were awakened by a call from a doctor in the unit. Shane’s apnea was so bad that he now required the assistance of a respirator to survive, the doctor told them. But Shane was fortunate to be in a hospital with expertise in the treatment of apnea.
Shane’s apnea has caused no more trouble. His breathing pauses have never been severe enough to trigger the monitor, his parents report, and in every other respect, he is thriving.
Are SIDS And Sleep Apnea Related?
A study suggests that sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) might be more common in families that suffer from the adult sleeping disorder sleep apnea
Though the cause of SIDS remains mysterious, new evidence supports the idea that both disorders are caused by a narrowed upper airway resulting from the way the skull is formed, a characteristic that is inherited.
The study compared the number of SIDS cases in 29 families with sleep apnea and 35 families without sleep apnea. Researchers had families fill out questionnaires about the incidence of infant death. Subjects provided data from four generations of each family so that 352 sleep apnea family members and 408 control family members were covered.
The families prone to sleep apnea — in which breathing stops for short periods during sleep and can lead to snoring or disturbed sleep — reported eight unexplained infant deaths. The control families reported no unexplained, unexpected infant deaths, although one infant had died of mother-child blood-type incompatibility. Two of the sleep apnea families reported more than one SIDS death. In one case, a pair of twins had died without explanation. When researchers examined the facial structure of four of the six families that reported SIDS death, they found the shapes were significantly different from the normal families.
The results suggest that SIDS and adult sleep apnea are associated and that both could result from obstructive apnea due to facial structure narrowing the upper airway.
Sleep apnea runs in families. Other work has suggested that certain families may be at higher risk for SIDS, although like most things about SIDS, this remains debated. It is a thorny issue. The idea has been that sleep apnea may be the final common pathway of SIDS, but not necessarily the cause. The problem with SIDS research is that no one has ever witnessed a SIDS death.
In children who often appear tired or have trouble staying awake in school, check for potential obstructive apnea caused by abnormally large adenoids or tonsils.
Another study that found that babies considered at high risk of SIDS — those who had stopped breathing and were by chance found and resuscitated — had a higher chance of having a father with sleep apnea-like symptoms. This could support the idea that sleep apnea is related to SIDS. But how they are related and whether it is causative is another question.
A sleep lab patient, Pasadena resident William H. Chapman, was tested after his wife wrote his doctor to express concern about his restless sleep. Chapman, 61, has been a heavy snorer for decades.
“The descriptions of my snoring went from something like a growling bear to a machine that was going to knock down the house,” he said. When he and his son went camping in southern Utah last year, his son asked him to sleep in the truck.
He felt bone-tired during the day, what he describes as “30 years struggling against this weariness that you feel perpetually. No alertness. No get-up-and-go.”
Finally, Chapman spent a night at Torrance Memorial, plugged into the polysomnograph. The test results were startling: He was holding his breath as many as 57 times an hour, each time for 10 to 40 seconds. He would wake repeatedly as he held his breath, meaning that he unknowingly was sleeping only four or five hours a night.
A federal report concluded that while 60 million Americans suffer from apnea, narcolepsy and other chronic sleep problems, the majority are undiagnosed and untreated. Despite its pervasiveness and impact upon the society, sleep-related problems are not recognized as a public health issue.
The most common and severe form, called obstructive sleep apnea, features extremely loud snoring interrupted by pauses and gasps. Breathing stops for 10 seconds or longer, sometimes dozens or even hundreds of times each night.
Most frequently, the airway becomes blocked during sleep due to excessive relaxation of throat muscles. In children, sleep apnea is often the result of enlarged tonsils and adenoids.
People with sleep apnea may show signs of anxiety, depression, irritability, forgetfulness and fatigue during the day. Recent studies have found that sleep apnea sufferers have two to five times as many automobile accidents as people in the general population.
Treatment includes weight reduction (most people with severe sleep apnea are overweight); avoiding alcohol within two hours of bedtime and sleeping drugs; surgery to remove excess tissue at the back of the throat or enlarged tonsils and adenoids; use of a special mask that improves flow of air through nasal passages.
Undergoing surgery or sleeping with a mask clamped to your face may seem like extreme measures just to silence snoring. But if you have sleep apnea, those treatments could save your life.
As awareness of apnea mounts, suspected sufferers are spending their nights under an infrared camera’s watchful eye in hundreds of so-called “sleep labs” across America, sensors dotting their skin and scalp.
Eleven o’clock is “lights out.” At 11:02 sharp, Navarro yawns. A needle swings wildly on a monitor humming softly in the next room. At 11:10 p.m., Navarro turns onto his left side, and a half-dozen needles jerk in response.
This night will be like no other for Navarro, a 32-year-old computer programmer. For the next seven hours, his every breath, movement and heartbeat will be recorded as he spends the night in a sleep disorders laboratory.
He is here because doctors think he suffers from sleep apnea, a disorder marked by loud snoring and interrupted breathing. Once considered relatively obscure, sleep apnea is stirring increased concern among physicians because it can cause severe daytime fatigue, high blood pressure, stroke and heart problems; serious cases can be life-threatening.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that sleep apnea is more common than once believed. The study found that 9% of women and 24% of men had sleep-disordered breathing; 2% of women and 4% of men in the middle-aged work force met the criteria for sleep apnea. That would make undiagnosed sleep apnea a major public health burden.
Depending on the severity of the apnea, treatment can include use of a night time face mask or even surgery. There’s a less high-tech approach for those who snore or suffer apnea only while on their backs: sewing a tennis ball in the back of their pajamas tops so they will sleep on their sides instead.
Not surprisingly, roommates and spouses are often the first to spot potential apnea victims. Navarro is a longtime snorer; he can remember his college roommates waking him to request that he tone it down. His wife, Christine, grew worried when she noticed that he sometimes stopped breathing briefly during the night. She learned about sleep apnea from her doctor and urged her husband to get tested.
A video screen shows Navarro dozing peacefully. Pink computer paper moves steadily through the polysomnograph, a machine with 12 needles that records everything from his eye movements to heart contractions.
All night, monitors will record the needles’ black tracks, paying special attention to those measuring Navarro’s breathing. Sleep apnea victims have been known to stop breathing hundreds of times each night.
Treatment For Sleep Apnea
There are three Types of insomnia and they’re classified depending to the quantity of the problem:
Transient Insomnia.- Lasts relatively low than a single week, regularly only a few days.
Short Term Insomnia.- Lasts somewhere from what i read in one week to three weeks.
Chronic Insomnia.- Lasts for 3 weeks or further. Transient and Short term insomnia has several similar causes and they are:
Short term worrying occasions such as being without a job, nuptials, separation and any other issue that might keep your mind very busy to let you fall fast asleep. Jetlag or alteration of work shifts could disturb your sleep clock and keep you from having a good night sleep.
Extreme, piercing and disagreeable noises could disturb your sleep and give you a hard time falling back to sleep. Several types of diseases can stop your body’s capability to fall asleep or to have an uninterrupted night of sleep. Alcohol, drugs or medicine withdrawal could as well originate insomnia. One more cause of transient and short term insomnia is not being able to sleep in high elevation places.
Chronic Insomnia Causes are either psychological or physiological: The most frequent psychological issues that may lead to insomnia consist of}: Anxiety.- Anxiety is a general mood condition that happens devoid of an identifiable triggering stimulus.
Stress.- Stress is a biological word which refers to the consequences of the failure of a person or animal to react properly to emotional or physical threats to the body.
Schizophrenia.- Psychiatric analysis that describes a mental sickness characterized by abnormalities in the awareness or demonstration of reality. Mania (bipolar disorder).- Serious medical condition characterized by exceptionally elevated mood, energy, abnormal thought patterns and occasionally psychosis.
Depression.- Refers to a state of depleted mood and distaste to activity. Physiological insomnia Causes are:
1. Chronic pain syndromes.
2. Chronic fatigue syndrome.
3. Congestive heart failure.
4. Night time angina (chest pain) from heart disease.
5. Acid reflux disease (GERD).
6. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
7. Nocturnal asthma (asthma with night time breathing symptoms).
8. Obstructive sleep apnea.
9. Degenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease (Often insomnia is the deciding factor for nursing home placement.)
10.Brain tumors, strokes, or trauma to the brain. All of these conditions have| to be treated by a doctor and have to be thought as a main concern prior to attempting to treat your insomnia. There’s not such thing as Insomnia remedies, although there are pills and products that allege to heal insomnia, the truth is that to prevent insomnia you have to take care of the cause and not the actual insomnia.
Pills that put you to sleep not only could be extremely addictive but they don’t help to cure the causes and in term you still do not sleep properly. To begin with you have to recognize what kind of insomnia you’re suffering from and then you have to have the correct remedy| for the cause of it.
Since there are a number of types and causes for insomnia, each cause has to be treated individually and in term the insomnia will vanish and you can truly get the rest that you require. Do your body a favour. Have a good sleep tonight! Download your Treatment For Sleep Apnea eBook now!
Sleep Apnea Cures
Menopause insomnia may not be a life-threatening situation and not a critical if contrasted with other disorders, but the inconveniences the current can be delivered by such a sleep disorder can be quite frustrating. This kind of insomnia has the perfect recipe that is insured to upset the majority of heart aged women. This is a common predicament for all middle-aged women, as menopause and insomnia often pairs with one another.
For women in their late 40s and the beginning of 40s, the symptoms of the sleep disorder can be linked to the transition to peri-menopause. Factors that impact sleeping patterns of middle aged women There are many factors that affect the sleep lifestyle of women of this age bracket. Major factors that should be considered include hormonal changes, hot flashes, mood swings and social issues.
· Hormonal changes are considered as primary culprits. At this stage, the ovaries of women will start to limit the production of estrogen and the progesterone. Now this shift in production can be an inconvenient process and in some cases, the person will have trouble falling asleep.
Low levels of estrogen will also allow women to be more prone to stress, and stress in turn can affect sleeping patterns.
· Hot flashes can undermine the sleeping patterns of women. Simply put, hot flashes are sudden surge of adrenaline which can wake the person’s brain from sleep. In time, adrenaline levels will revert back to normal levels but this will take time. This means that the person may have to wait for some time before she can go back to sleep.
· Mood swings. Mood swings and depression are linked with one another, and these two are also related to the loss of estrogen.
· Other personal issues. Issues related to social life and personal life will have an effect as well when it comes to sleeping patterns. This stage in the women’s life tends to lasts from 3 to 10 years. Women have a choice when faced with the combo of menopause and insomnia- either to learn to live with it or address it with the help of a number of treatment options.
There are two routes that can be taken in order to address this sleeping disorder. The first one is the natural way which can include lifestyle changes, and the other option is to look at what therapies can do.
Route 1: Taking the natural approach A talk with a general health practitioner is needed first before deciding on which treatment road to take. The natural approach means controlling the sleep structure, the lifestyle and the sleeping environment. For example, women suffering from insomnia related to menopause can follow a consistent wake up times and must give their body ample time to fall asleep. There are other tips on how to create a suitable sleeping environment. Women can make their room darker and cool. Avoidance of alcohol and tobacco can help too.
Route 2: Hormone replacement therapy and other forms of treatment This kind of therapy works by filling in the needs of the body for the lost estrogen. With estrogen, hot flashes and the attendant symptoms of menopause and insomnia can be reduced. There are many ways on how to address the inconveniences associated with menopause insomnia.
But before taking any action, a consultation with a general practitioner health professional is suggested. Do your body a favour. Have a good sleep tonight! Download your Sleep Apnea Cures eBook now!
Lower airway surgery is normally done for two reasons – to increase the size of the airway to improve breathing and to prevent the airway from collapsing. It also helps to minimize or prevent snoring for sleep apnea sufferers.
There are several types of lower airway surgery:
Genioglossus Advancement
The muscle called the genioglossus connects the back of the tongue to a spot on the rear of the chin. Genioglossus advancement moves the tongue forward to leave more space for air to circulate. This surgery is done via an incision inside the patient’s lower lip.
Hyoid Advancement
Slightly above the Adam’s apple is a C-shaped bone called the hyoid bone. This bone connects the muscles at the edge of the lower throat to the back of the tongue.
Hyoid advancement surgery is done to increase the space behind the tongue, allowing air to flow more freely. In this procedure, an incision is made in the hyoid bone which is then brought forward and attached to either the jawbone or the Adam’s apple.
Lingualplasty
In some cases, the reason air is obstructed is because the tongue is too big. In a surgical procedure called a midline glossectomy, a small part of the center of the tongue is removed to make it smaller.
Lingualplasty is a similar procedure, with even more of the tongue being removed. In some cases, a temporary tracheostomy may be performed to ease breathing during recovery because of the swelling that takes place.
Bimaxillary Advancement
In some cases, the doctor will move both the upper and lower jawbones forward, including the patient’s teeth. This increases the space for the tongue to rest and improves airflow. This procedure is called bimaxillary advancement and is usually either performed when the patient has a small jaw or when they have not had any improvement from other soft tissue surgeries.
Realignment of the teeth is sometimes necessary after this surgery, which requires orthodontic work. It can also affect the facial appearance, but to what degree will depend on how severe the work was.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that is characterized by episodes of cessation of breathing. It can occur as often as several hundred times in a night with each episode probably lasting up to ten seconds, and is manifested through the following symptoms: loud snoring, choking spells, excessive daytime sleepiness, frequent visits to the bathroom, severe mood swings, obesity, low sex drive, dry mouth and sore throat in the morning, lack of concentration and forgetfulness, morning headaches, and a general lack of energy or malaise. Sleep apnea may be detrimental to one’s health, thus, it should be treated. One way of treating this condition is through the use of a sleep apnea device.Click Here For Sleep Disorder Alliance Free Trial Now!Fortunately, there are more sleep apnea devices available now than ever before. Sleep apnea devices are designed to assist the person to breathe properly and consequently ensure a good night’s sleep.Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices deliver oxygen at low pressure via a nasal cannula or a face mask, thus, providing a safe, effective, and immediate relief. However, the side effects of CPAP devices include dry skin and mouth, headaches, and skin breakdowns. Dental appliances prevent the person’s tongue from falling back into the throat and blocking the airways. The side effects of dental devices are soreness, build-up of saliva, and alterations in the jaw, teeth, or mouth. Jaw adjustment devices like the mandibular advancement device (MAD) or the mandibular advancement splint (MAS) looks similar to the sports mouth guards that athletes wear for protection. Oxygen therapy may also be administered again via a nasal cannula or face mask.Not all sleep apnea devices work for all sufferers of this condition. Thus, trial-and-error should be done until the most appropriate device is determined.
A tracheostomy is a type of surgery used in the treatment of sleep apnea. It is a serious treatment, used as a last resort for people who either haven’t had success with any other types of treatment or whose sleep apnea is severe enough to be life-threatening.
This surgery has a high success rate but it can have some serious side effects. It involves an incision being cut in the throat, through the windpipe, roughly the size of a quarter. A tube is inserted into this incision to allow easier airflow in and out of the lungs. It can lead to other health problems, both medical and psychological.
The tube that is inserted allows the air to flow freely, eliminating the sleep apnea. During the day, a valve lets the patient shut the tube to allow them to breathe and speak naturally. The valve is opened at night while asleep to allow the air to flow.
Recovery from a tracheostomy can vary – some people will take longer than others.
There are multiple risks associated with this type of surgery. Scar tissue can form where the incision is made which can lead to changes in the appearance of the person’s neck.
Infections can sometimes develop where the incision is made, leading to swelling, redness and fluid drainage. Bleeding is also often a complication.
Some patients who have undergone this surgical procedure have difficulties with speech. Some have problems immediately after the surgery but show improvement with time while others have a permanent change in their speech.
A tracheostomy can also increase the chances of a lung infection.
Psychological and emotional problems can also be an issue for some patients who undergo the surgery. Self-consciousness can be an issue in some cases due to the appearance of the neck when the tube has been inserted.
After undergoing a tracheostomy, proper hygiene is very important. Keeping the neck clean and free of debris is paramount.
There really aren’t any definite sleep apnea cures, but there are several different treatments for the dangerous sleeping disorder. For example, some people have to undergo surgery for it, but there are several problems that can occur with surgery, even though the surgery itself may be a relatively easy procedure for the surgeon. The swelling that occurs following surgery is especially dangerous for sleep apnea patients, as it can totally block off the airway and cause suffocation. Moreover, some of the drugs used for anesthesia can exasperate the problem while the surgery is underway. Scarier still, the drugs that many doctors prescribe to relieve post surgery pain and discomfort can depress the nervous system, making the apnea worse for a short period of time.
Some people never have to go under the knife. Some patients can find that sleep apnea cures are as easy as purchasing a special pillow that positions their head, back and neck in a way that opens the airway and puts an end to the apneas. Other people have to sleep attached to a CPAP machine, which delivers pressurized air through a mask. In cases where sleep apnea is caused by infectious mononucleosis, a regimen of anti-inflammatory drugs works just fine (although it’s important to note that in these cases, the drugs are a temporary solution to a temporary problem).
Currently, there are lots of clinical trials that are searching for more sleep apnea cures. In particular, doctors are exploring the option of neurostimulation to relieve the problem. In these cases, a pacemaker like device is implanted, sending gentle shock waves to the brain that stimulates the muscles in the throat, ending the apneas. Still, some people are exploring more natural solutions, such as breathing techniques that are taught in yoga. Many people find these breathing exercises strengthen the muscles in the throat, effectively curing the problem.
It’s becoming more and more common for people suffering from many medical conditions to turn to alternative therapies for treatment. Before trying these therapies, it’s always best to seek the advice of a health care professional, but alternative therapies can often complement or even replace traditional treatments.
It is often thought that structural problems that cause restricted airflow are the underlying cause of sleep apnea. While this is true, it’s not always a physical problem requiring corrective surgery. In some cases it can be as simple as losing weight.
By losing weight, it helps to keep the airways open, making breathing easier. Even a small amount of weight loss can make a difference in some people – as little as 10 to 15 pounds.
Homeopathic practitioners have a theory that sleep apnea is due to a lack of energy. Thus, diet is an important factor for people suffering with apnea. Reducing the amount of sugar can help, as can a reduction in foods that cause an allergic reaction.
Herbal medications are often recommended for dealing with sleep apnea. There are two common ones – lachesis and homeopathic opium. Lachesis is considered to be the best for people who are extroverted & charismatic, with a tendency to anger easily.
Another alternative therapy for sleep apnea is flower remedy or essence therapy. This uses a flower called Vervain, which helps to calm and relax people. These alternative remedies are usually available at health food stores as well as many websites.
It has been shown that sleep apnea is sometimes cause by too little serotonin in the body. The nerves that control our breathing need a certain amount, and without enough it can interrupt breathing.
It is thought that by using a serotonin precursor such as 5-HTP, it can help to minimize the symptoms of sleep apnea. It has helped many patients get a more restful night’s sleep, with fewer breaks from waking up in the middle of the night.
As with any treatments, you should always consult with your doctor before trying anything to be sure there will be no negative effects.