Solutions For Sleep Apnea
Obstructive Sleep Apnea occurs when the muscles around the rear part of the throat relax, when you are asleep. The muscles are responsible for holding and supporting your tonsils, tongue and soft palate. If these relax too much during sleep, the airway narrows, causing a reduced amount of oxygen to the body. This makes your brain lift you from deep sleep temporarily, so that the air passage is reopened.
If your case of sleep apnea is not severe, you may find that some sleep apnea solutions that can improve it. If you are overweight, then losing weight can reduce the occurrences. Also, try not to drink alcohol at night time. Smoking can also be a contributory factor, so giving up cigarettes can also help. Anything that relaxes the muscles medically, such as tranquillizers or sleeping pills can also have a detrimental effect on the throat’s muscle system. Some people find that sleeping on one side, instead of on their back lessens the symptoms too.
For more severe cases, sleep apnea treatments such as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is a possible treatment. This is a mask which you wear over your mouth when sleeping. It sends compressed air into your throat, ensuring that the airway does not get blocked. Many people find this strange to wear to begin with, and some stop using it because of this. However, patients who persevere with it report that it works very effectively, despite their initial misgivings.
Amazingly, several medical studies in respected journals, such as the British Medical Journal have suggested that regularly playing the didgeridoo can also reduce snoring, daytime sleepiness, and other symptoms of sleep apnea. The study suggested that this was due to the patient training themselves to control their upper airways, and becoming more aware of how the muscles work. The study used 25 patients suffering from moderate obstructive sleep apnea. They took a random selection of these patients, and asked them to practice the didgeridoo every day for four months. After four months, the didgeridoo players reported significant improvements, compared to the control group.
Tags: air passage, airway pressure, CPAP, daytime sleepiness, deep sleep, medical studies, obstructive sleep, obstructive sleep apnea, sleep, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Apnea Solutions, sleep apnea treatment, Sleep Apnea Treatments, snoring, symptoms of sleep apnea, tonsilsRelated posts
Sleep Apnea Side Effects
Sleep Apnea, also called Pickwickian syndrome, is a disorder in which the sufferer periodically stops breathing while asleep. It can have a number of effects on the body and health of the person afflicted with it. The most common form of sleep apnea is OSA, or obstructive sleep apnea. It occurs when an individual has a lot of soft tissue around their airway (back of the mouth leading to the windpipe) which can shift during sleep and close off the passage of air.
The most obvious effect of sleep apnea is that the sufferers’ sleep is frequently interrupted because when the airway is shut off, the person suffocates, and wakes up to breathe. This sleep deprivation can lead to a number of maladies, of which the most obvious is daytime sleepiness. In addition, the extra tissue which can cause OSA will frequently also vibrate while the person is breathing, causing snoring. Sleep apnea has also been linked to waking up with morning headaches, sexual dysfunction and even certain cognitive disabilities (related to memory and learning). To add insult to injury, the sleep deprivation caused by sleep apnea also leads to an increased rate of automobile accidents, which, of course, carry a range of negative outcomes, ranging from simple property damage all of the way to dismemberment and death.
Although these effects are all unpleasant and inconvenient, they pale next to the more serious side effects of sleep apnea. People who suffer from sleep apnea have a much higher incidence of cardiovascular problems, as well as diabetes. The high blood pressure which can be caused by OSA is unique in that it never allows the body to rest since readings do not stop during sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea also has neurological effects, including both increased risk of stroke and, recently discovered, tissue loss in parts of the brain that serve as memory storage.
Finally, obstructive sleep apnea can cause cor pulmonary. This is the failure of the right ventricle of the heart, which provides blood to the lungs. Cor pulmonary is fatal. Central sleep apnea is a much rarer form of the malady and is caused by a failure in the respiratory controls in the brain. Put simply, the brain forgets to have the sufferer breathe. This can be caused by a number of things, including medications which depress the central nervous system. It has similar effects to OSA.
Although sleep apnea has a number of unpleasant side effects, it is treatable. Some sleep apnea treatments are as simple as lifestyle changes (losing weight, ceasing smoking or alcohol use), while the use of a CPAP machine is also an option. Serious cases can also be treated surgically. Luckily, the serious side effects of sleep apnea can be removed by treating the apnea.
Tags: cognitive disabilities, CPAP, cpap machine, daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, neurological effects, obstructive sleep, obstructive sleep apnea, REM, sleep, Sleep Apnea, sleep apnea treatment, Sleep Apnea Treatments, sleep deprivation, snoringRelated posts
Sleep Apnea Treatments
Sleep apnea is a problem that a lot of people have. It is basically when there are pauses when someone sleeps. Most people who have it do not actually know they have it. Sometimes it can be very serious because it can cause choking and gagging as you sleep. One of the primary symptoms is snoring, but since most people do that, it is tough to distinguish. It can be helped through a variety of sleep apnea treatments.
Sleep apnea is common in overweight individuals, so naturally one treatment is to lose weight. Cutting your weight by a few pounds can help you sleep better. Stop taking sedative drugs or even stop drinking alcohol or using tobacco products can help alleviate sleep apnea. These aforementioned items relax the throat which makes snoring more prone to happening. Usually sleep apnea occurs when people sleep on their backs. Naturally sleeping on your side can prevent this. Anything to help stop snoring can help which can be done by raising your bed or your pillows.
Something that has worked for me was the use of nasal strips. These go across the bridge of your nose and open up the passageways. These work extremely well and helps me breath amazingly during the night. Those are some things you can do to help, but there are also other sleep apnea cures and medical treatments as well.
The most common and effective treatment is CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure. Basically, you wear a mask while you sleep and it feed air through your nose as you sleep. This air prevents the airway from collapsing and doesn’t make you snore. The problem with this technique is that the mask is extremely uncomfortable. They have made some better masks now to wear to make this technique even better. Another option is surgery which can increase the size of the airway. This may include the removal of tonsils, adenoids, etc. This can eliminate sleep apnea all together.
One last option is jaw devices. These devices lower the jaw and push the tongue forward which opens up the airway all together. This has many side effects like a sore mouth. Overall, sleep apnea can be a nuisance, but there are many different ways to treat and alleviate it.
Tags: adenoid, airway pressure, CPAP, nasal strips, pillows, REM, sleep, Sleep Apnea, sleep apnea treatment, Sleep Apnea Treatments, snoring, stop snoring, tonsils