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
Natural Sleep Techniques
How wonderful it is to wake up after a good night’s sleep! Ah, the body feels refreshed, the mind renewed. Say goodbye to nights of tossing and turning, instead wake up with a smile! Irrespective of your reasons for insomnia, here are some simple and natural tips on how to fall asleep fast:
Instead of resorting to popping those sleeping pills (which can be addictive in itself and will require you to take more and more as you become increasingly dependent on it), you can go at it the natural way. Here are some quick and easy ways to fall asleep. Although some of these will not work immediately, keeping at it will eventually reap the benefits of good sleep.
1. Keep away from heavy and late meals at night or during the wee hours of the morning. An empty stomach will actually help in quieting your mind so that it is geared towards sleeping.
2. Get rid of caffeine in your diet. Or, if you really can’t avoid coffee, drink this in the mornings, and not before you need to go to bed to sleep.
3. Read. This habit can relax you.
4. Remember that the bedroom is for sleep and sex only! This will help condition your mind that once you are in bed, you should already fall asleep. Eliminate distractions – such as the television, the phone and the computer.
5. Take a warm and scented bath. Sprinkle chamomile or lavender oil into the bath to thoroughly relax and soothe your body and sense. The warmth and the steam will make you feel drowsy an hour after the bath.
6. Get comfortable – wear the night clothes you are comfortable with. Be willing to spend money on a good and comfy bed – it should not be too hard nor too soft. A memory foam pillow would be another wise investment.
7. Use a fan to get rid of surrounding noises. It can also serve to distribute the air throughout the room.
8. If it helps, listen to relaxing music – such as the sound of the waves or birds chirping.
9. Eliminate distractions in the bedroom – turn the TV off, put away magazines and fliers, if you’re sleeping beside someone, request that they be quiet as possible.
10. Shun coffee at least 3 hours before you go to bed. The same goes for candies and chocolates.
11. When you have to exercise, don’t do so before bedtime. The exercise will give you an energy boost and will certainly not help you fall asleep.
12. Don’t go to bed when you are not sleepy. This will increase your struggle to sleep and condition your mind that getting some sleep is a struggle.
13. Fake it until you make it. Pretend to be sleepy.
14. Picture yourself doing something in the house, like painting the walls with slow up and down motions.
Tags: daytime sleepiness, insomnia, REM, rem sleep cycle, sleep, sleep deprivation, types of sleep disordersRelated 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, snoring