FAQ Sleep Apnea » obstructive

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 01:51:43 +0000

Sleep Management Solutions partnered with Philips brings you a detailed look at obstructive sleep apnea. What are the signs and symptoms and what you and your doctor can do about it.

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Methods Used to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 05:29:55 +0000

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can be treated in numerous ways. What needs to be looked at is the patient’s medical history, the disorder’s severity, and crucially, the exact cause of the airway blockage.

Kids that have OSA do so typically due to chronically enlarged adenoids and tonsils. Tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies are successful at diminishing OSA substantially. The difficulty level associated with operations to reduce OSA in children can be very high, as for example with cases of reduced growth of the body alongside poor development of the right side of the heart. Fortunately, when OSA-associated high exhalation pressures are lowered complications to the cardiovascular system tend to reverse of their own accord. Careful precautionary practices are adhered to during the important postoperative period in children.

OSA treatment in adults who have poor oropharyngeal airways in combination with a large upper body frame are open to a variety of treatments. Unfortunately, this most common form of OSA tends not to have particular treatment methods that habitually work, each case needs specific evaluation over the best course of action.

Such methods for relieving obstructions consist of changes to the sufferer’s lifestyle, e.g. reducing alcoholic intake, avoiding medications that may relax the central nervous system (CNS) (e.g. sedatives, muscle relaxants), stopping smoking and reducing weight. Specially designed devices, such as pillows, that stop the sufferer from sleeping on their back can be effective in reducing OSA.

Oral appliances are sometimes used, these keep the patients airways open whilst they are asleep. Mandibular advancement splints (MAS) are sometimes advised to lessen mild to moderate OSA. MAS consists of a mouth guard, similar to that used with impact sports to protect the teeth, which holds the lower jaw a little more down and forward from its usual relaxed position. When in use the users tongue is moved farther from the back of the airways, possibly far enough so that some OSA sufferers are able to gain improved breathing.

When such methods fail to make enough of a beneficial impression GP’s will often suggest the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

CPAP comes in the form of a mask attached to the face which has a tube running from an air pump to the sufferer’s mouth and/ or nose, forcing controlled bursts of air through the obstructed air passageways and into the lungs. CPAP uses a constant air pressure found by performing an overnight test or ‘titration’ on the sufferer. Recent models of CPAP contraptions are able to reduce the exhalation pressure for improved performance and patient comfort.

Variable positive airway pressure (VPAP), known also as bilevel or BiPAP, monitors the patients breathing with an electronic circuit. Two different pressures are adopted here, inhalation has a higher pressure than exhalation. This system is more expensive than CPAP and is often used on people that have other respiratory problems or who find sleeping with higher exhaling pressures from CPAP difficult.

Automatic positive airway pressure (APAP) uses sensors that measure air pressure in conjunction with a computer that monitors the patient’s performance with breathing. Pressures exerted by the air pump are constantly adjusted, i.e. heightened when the user is finding breathing difficult, lowered when pressures are considered higher than necessary.

Various surgical ways of widening airways, or removing or tightening tissues in that area are used, the success rate tends to be low with these practices. In some cases patients adopt a combination of such therapies to reduce their OSA. Surgery is typically a last resort, used when none of the above, as well as other more experimental OSA reduction methods (e.g. pharmaceuticals like methylxanthine theophylline and modafinil, and neurostimulation e.g. pacemaker stimulation), have been deemed effective.

www.sleepapneafacts.info/Why-You-Should-Stop-Snoring.php . This sleep dedicated website contains a vast array of information specifically designed to help you get an improved nights sleep.

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Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea – What’s the Difference?

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:07:00 +0000

He gasps, he snorts, and he is grappling for breath! He likely has sleep apnea. (This can happen with women as well.)

You’ve probably heard these telltale signs.

It’s also scary. If you’ve ever lain beside someone with sleep apnea and literally watched that person stop breathing – it is scary!

Snoring
The actual loud snoring sound is created as the soft palette and the uvula vibrate. The uvula is the little fleshy bit of skin that hangs down at the back of your throat. From physics, we know that any rapidly moving air will try to elevate and vibrate the objects in its path; hence, voluminous airflow passing through the nose or mouth causes this loud, intense vibration. It’s the irregularity of the air movement when it’s not consistently even, that causes the sporadic vibration of the soft pallet. The National Sleep Foundation research suggests that about 44 women snore and this snoring affects their bed partners. When someone snores loudly and constantly every night, it is considered chronic snoring. Other times, snoring only occurs on an occasional basis and can be due to excessive tiredness, overeating, sleeping on one’s back, excessive alcohol consumption etc.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea, on the other hand, is where the sufferer’s breathing actually stops for a brief period of time – anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute. The initial culprits that trigger the onset of sleep apnea are weight gain, aging, and lose of muscle tone, though this can also occur in younger people without the typical triggers. In a home setting, sleep apnea is often misdiagnosed, as very often, it is accompanied by loud snoring, though snoring does not need to occur for the person to be having apnea events. When the throat muscles relax during sleep, the windpipe collapses. This then prevents the oxygen from flowing. As the blood oxygen level decreases, the brain finally kicks in and say, ‘Hey! It’s time to give me oxygen’, so it wakes you up just enough for you to tighten up the upper airway muscles and open your windpipe. This results in a huge intake of air and causes snorting and gasping, literally for breath. This pattern can repeat hundreds of time through the night and the sufferer is never the wiser. This is why it is so important to monitor your daytime behavior and how you feel. My husband suffers from very mild apnea events and he can always tell when he’s had a ‘bad’ night as his throat tends to be sore the next day, and he is very tired and groggy upon waking. If left unchecked or untreated, it can lead to intense irritability and depression, as well as morning headaches, loss of sex drive and a decline in cognitive functioning. There can also be an increased risk of high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and an elevated risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Millions of people have their sleep interrupted with this disturbing medical condition…and millions go undiagnosed. This extremely common sleep disorder is one that definitely needs medical attention. It is diagnosed by spending a night or two in a sleep lab hooked up to Polysomnography equipment that monitors your heartbeat, breathing and brainwave activity.

Once sleep apnea is diagnosed, the common solution is to sleep with a CPAP mask (continuous positive airway pressure) over your nose and mouth. It provides regulated flow of air through the nasal passages, which prevents your windpipe from closing. For milder cases of sleep apnea, learning to sleep on one’s side often will correct the situation. Extreme solutions involve surgery to correct structural deformities. All solutions must be discussed with your medical practitioner.

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Soon, injection or throat spray for kids with obstructive sleep apnea

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:51:58 +0000

Soon, injection or throat spray for kids with obstructive sleep apnea
Washington, Feb 5 : A new study has found that kids with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may one day be able to have an injection or use a throat spray instead of getting their tonsils removed to cure their snoring.

Possible pharmacological target(s) identified in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:46:47 +0000

Possible pharmacological target(s) identified in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea
Children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may one day be able to have an injection or use a throat spray instead of getting their tonsils removed to cure their snoring, according to a new study which found that a specific gene product may be responsible for the proliferation of adenotonsillar tissue that can cause pediatric OSA.

obstructive sleep apnoea 80 seconds 51% oxygen saturation

admin — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:33:50 +0000

This is a patient undergoing a diagnostic home sleep study prior to undergoing gastric banding surgery. She has a BMI of 44 kg/m2. She stops breathing up to 80 seconds, 63 times per hour and her blood oxygen levels drop to 51% from wake levels of 95%. She was suffering from excessive daytime tiredness.

Her breathing during sleep has since returned to normal since using ResMed Autoset.

Duration : 0:2:19

Technorati Tags: apnoea, Home, obstructive, sleep, studies

How to Diagnose Sleep Disorders : Transient Insomnia

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:32:19 +0000

Transient insomnia can develop due to depression or stress from our daily lives. Learn more about transient insomnia from our medical expert in this free video.

Duration : 0:2:48

Technorati Tags: apnea, diagnose, diagnosing, disorders, expert, finding, Free, how, Insomnia, label, labeling, leg, narcolepsy, obs, obstructive, parasomnia, Restless, RLS, sleep, sleeping, Syndrome, to, Village

How to Diagnose Sleep Disorders : Secondary Causes of Insomnia

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:32:19 +0000

It’s important to rule out secondary causes of insomnia for they might interfere with proper treatment and diagnoses. Learn more about insomnia and sleep disorders from our medical expert in this free video.

Duration : 0:2:17

How to Diagnose Sleep Disorders : Obstructive Sleep Apnea

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:50:18 +0000

Waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air can be a good sign that you have obstructive sleep apnea. Learn more about sleep apnea and why it occurs from our medical expert in this free video.

Duration : 0:1:47

How to Diagnose Sleep Disorders : Obstructive Sleep Apnea Complications

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:50:18 +0000

Obstructive sleep apnea can lead to serious complications if it’s not addressed properly. Learn more about obstructive sleep apnea from our medical expert in this free video.

Duration : 0:1:19