Unfortunately, the medical community doesn’t have a definitive cure for sleep apnea, although much research is being done on this disorder. Even though there isn’t a true cure for sleep apnea, there are treatments that may make a significant difference in the patient’s life. Mild cases, and ones in which medical care is started early, often see positive results in a short time. However, delaying treatment for this disorder may result in serious and potentially fatal complications.

Go To The Doctor

As with any medical condition, you need a correct diagnosis. If you or your doctor suspects you have sleep apnea, you will need to have an overnight test performed. This is known as a polysomnogram (PSG). To administer this test, the patient would come to the sleep lab in the early evening and have electrodes placed on several parts of the body to monitor key areas. After falling asleep, the data would be recorded and reviewed by the sleep technician who remains with the patient throughout the night. All of this information will give your doctor the necessary facts to make a correct diagnosis of sleep apnea.

The polysomnogram will also give your doctor an idea of the severity of your condition. In mild cases, a weight loss program may be recommended. Obesity aggravates this condition, and some patients report that after losing weight their sleep apnea was cured. Another beneficial treatment is positional therapy in which the patient is discouraged from sleeping on their backs. Since throat muscles tend to collapse with this condition, by sleeping on their sides, the effects of gravity on the neck is minimized.

More Severe Cases

Dental appliances are found to be helpful with this disorder, by keeping the mouth and airways open, but these should never be considered a cure for sleep apnea. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines are widely used and offer a great deal of help. These devices direct a constant flow of air into the breathing passages and keep these airways obstruction-free. While many consider this a cure for sleep apnea, since a patient needs to rely on a machine to achieve optimum breathing levels, this device should only be considered as a highly effective treatment.

In severe cases surgery is performed to cure sleep apnea. But this method should never be tried unless all other treatment options have failed. There are many complications from surgery, with the most serious being an increase in the swelling of the throat muscles and tissues, which can cause suffocation. Additionally, anesthesia can cause many complications for a patient who suffers from sleep apnea.

If you’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea, you’re probably searching for a cause. While this condition has been the focus of many studies, medical researchers are not in full agreement about the causes of sleep apnea. Understanding the types of sleep apnea and several underlying conditions may give you a clearer picture of what causes this disorder.

Types of Sleep Apnea

Since there are several types of sleep apnea, causes are many. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most prevalent type and is caused by an obstruction to the breathing. The pathways that allow air to flow in the nose or throat either close or collapse, thereby diminishing the normal breathing pattern.

Central sleep apnea (CSA) is rare and seems to be a result of a miscommunication between the brain and the central nervous system that instructs the body to breathe. A stroke or a disease or injury to the brain most likely causes this type of sleep apnea. Mixed sleep apnea is a combination of the first and second types and the prescribed treatment must take both conditions into account. Merely opening the airways is not usually sufficient to help a person with this condition. The connections between the brain and the nervous system must also be improved through drug therapy.

Common Underlying Conditions

While doctors don’t agree on a definite cause of sleep apnea, there appears to be several common conditions that are present in patients with this disorder. Physically, if a person’s neck or throat is narrow, it will create a smaller passage for air to flow. This in itself may not be a causative factor, but if other conditions are present, it would contribute to this medical problem. Large tonsils, adenoids, an enlarged tongue or even a receding chin are often seen in people with sleep apnea.

One of the main issues believed to be a cause of sleep apnea is obesity. Smoking or drinking alcohol may contribute to the onset of this disease, either by damaging the tissues of the throat or by providing a sedative effect. A family history has been determined to be a cause of sleep apnea, possibly resulting from inherited malformations of the neck or throat tissues. Many people who have sleep apnea also have high blood pressure or heart irregularities, but it’s not clearly decided if these conditions cause the apnea or result from it.

It may be years before doctors identify all the causes of sleep apnea, but if you are diagnosed with it, prompt and accurate treatment is recommended to avoid other health issues associated with this dangerous breathing problem.

Of all the sleep disorders in the world, sleep apnea is definitely one of the most common. The term sleep apnea is used to describe a condition that involves repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep. In many cases a person suffering from this condition is unaware that there is any problem at all, except perhaps their snoring.

Symptoms

There are certain signs and symptoms that are commonly associated with this condition, including excessive daytime sleepiness, social problems, emotional problems, and restless sleep. More often than not it is loved ones, such as the person’s partner or roommate, who recognize that there is a problem because of the incredible noise and makes the person seek help.

Associated features include loud snoring, morning headaches, constant drowsiness, irritability, heartburn, reduced libido, restless sleep, weight gain, difficulty concentrating, high blood pressure, confusion upon awakening, and chest retraction during sleep, to name a few. Sleep apnea and depression are a bad combination.

Factors

There are quite a few different conditions that are associated with sleep apnea and depression is one of the most common. Sleep apnea and depression can be a dangerous combination, especially if the depression is particularly bad.

People with sleep apnea and similar conditions often get depressed very easily, although once the sleep apnea condition is treated and under control most of the depression symptoms will let up as well. The main reason that people with this condition become so depressed is because they get sleep deprived and their life starts to be affected as a result.

Any patients with sleep apnea and depression are usually advised to work on treating their sleep apnea and depression before anything else. There are a few different treatments that you can choose to try, and one that has proven to be particularly effective is the CPAP or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure therapy, which involves being hooked up to a breathing machine.

This treatment involves the person wearing a close fitting mask over the nose which is attached to a supply of continuously flowing air, air which comes in through a flexible plastic hose from a medical air pump.

Sleep apnea is incredibly common and affects millions of people worldwide. It can definitely be frightening and hard to deal with, but know that if you find the right doctor and use the right treatment, you will be able to effectively deal with your sleep apnea and get to feeling like your regular old self again in no time.

Sleep apnea is an incredibly common condition, one that is characterized by temporary breathing interruptions during sleep. It is considered to be a very serious condition, one that affects millions of people around the world. There are two different types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.

More than anything this condition results in causing a lack of sleep, but as a result of a lack of sleep there are quite a few devastating effects that you may experience. This includes excessive daytime sleepiness, decreased intellectual functioning, memory loss, depression, hypertension and heart failure. Many people in San Diego have need of a San Diego sleep apnea doctor.

Doctor, Doctor

If you suffer from sleep apnea then you are going to want to find treatment for your condition as soon as possible. Go online or let your fingers do the walking in the Yellow Pages to find a good San Diego sleep apnea doctor. Ask your regular doctor for any recommendations.

At least you can feel assured in knowing that there are many great options when it comes to finding a San Diego sleep apnea doctor, and Cynthia R. Davis is one San Diego sleep apnea doctor that you will definitely want to consider.

She completed her medical school education in 1982 and her internship and residency were completed at the San Diego Naval Hospital. She has an incredible amount of experience and you can definitely feel safe putting your health in her hands.

Tricia Santos is another fantastic San Diego sleep apnea doctor. She has worked as a physician’s assistant for a large allergy and clinical immunology group in Houston, Texas, which provides diagnosis and treatment of pediatric and adult asthma and allergy problems. She has now joined Pacific ENT Medical Group, Inc.

Making the Choice

When you are trying to determine on a San Diego sleep apnea doctor, there are a few factors you will want to take into consideration. Perhaps more importantly than anything, you want to be aware of how much experience the doctor has. You want to make sure that you are putting your health into the hands of someone experienced and reliable.

Sleep apnea can be frightening and devastating, not only to the sufferer but to those around them as well. It is very important that you work together with your doctor so that they can keep an eye on your condition and make sure that you are making improvement.

A new study has revealed a close relationship between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation. It was discovered that when the lungs don’t get enough air, a person’s chances of atrial fibrillation are doubled. You don’t get enough air when you have sleep apnea. Atrial fibrillation causes the upper chambers of the heart to flap, instead of pumping blood. This is a very serious condition that can cause a heart attack or stroke. If you suffer from sleep apnea, there are several things you should know that will help you avoid the often fatal relationship with atrial fibrillation.

The Close Connection

Sleep apnea is a disorder in which the soft tissue that lines the back of the throat collapses during sleep. This causes the person to stop breathing because the air passage is blocked. This condition may happen many times during the course of a night’s sleep, interrupting normal breathing patterns for ten seconds to a full minute.

The relationship between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation comes in because the decreased breathing ultimately affects the working of the heart. The body’s major systems, like the circulatory and the respiratory systems, all work in harmony. When sleep apnea disrupts the healthy flow of oxygen throughout the body, it disrupts the heart’s natural harmony, manifesting itself as atrial fibrillation.

Seek Treatment For Either Condition

Since this study showed a very real relationship between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation, if you have been diagnosed with either of these conditions, correct treatment measures should be prescribed. Specific medications or the use of a sleep apnea machine that provides constant positive airway pressure (CPAP) can diminish the negative effect of this disorder while protecting your heart.

If you are being treated for atrial fibrillation, ask your doctor about the likelihood of also having sleep apnea. It’s vital to have both conditions treated to avoid the possible fatal connection between them. This recent study is important not only because it highlights the relationship between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation, but also because it shows an increase in the number of sleep apnea cases.

Several researchers attribute this to the rise in obesity rates, which appears to be a cause in developing sleep apnea. Although being overweight contributes to both conditions, this study did not specifically cite a cause-and-effect relationship between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation. Instead, these medical findings point to a connection between these disorders and stresses that both situations need to be treated to avoid dangerous complications.

Sleep apnea is a serious medical condition, yet the majority of cases haven’t even been diagnosed. It’s this fact that gives anesthesiologists concern. If a person needs surgery, and also suffers from sleep apnea, serious perioperative problems may result. It is vital that a doctor correctly screens each patient before surgery, asking specific questions that can identify sleep apnea, which decreases perioperative difficulties.

Types of Problems

Sleep apnea is a condition whereby a person stops breathing for a minimum of ten seconds, but this time could be longer. An obstructive factor or a miscommunication between the brain and the respiratory system can cause this problem. However, perioperative problems and sleep apnea go together. Administering anesthesia has a possibility of worsening sleep apnea symptoms, by relaxing the important airway muscles to a further degree.

There is a greater chance of breathing distress both during and after surgery. This would decrease the necessary oxygen flow to the brain and may pose a significant threat to the patient. Besides anesthesia, certain analgesics also have this effect on the throat muscles and should be used with caution in a patient who has sleep apnea.

Minimizing Surgical Complications

Perioperative problems in sleep apnea patients can be minimized in several ways. The first step is accurately determining if the patient has this disorder. Being prepared for this condition will give the anesthesiologist time to have a plan of action ready. Since certain sedatives may contribute to episodes of sleep apnea, a careful selection of medications should be decided upon before the surgical procedure. During surgery, the focus of the anesthesiologist will be on keeping the airways open to allow free breathing.

After surgery, special care needs to be given to sleep apnea patients, checking to see if there is any swelling of the throat muscles as a result of intubation, which is placing a tube in the air passage to provide breathing support during surgery. This tube may stay in place until the patient is fully awake and breathing without difficulty. A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine should be used to aid the patient after surgery.

Perioperative problems in sleep apnea patients can be greatly diminished or even eliminated by a thorough evaluation. Recognizing that a patient has sleep apnea, even if this condition had never been formally diagnosed, is a crucial step before any surgical procedure. With that knowledge in hand, the anesthesiologist can aggressively monitor the patient, with attention given to any breathing complications. Because surgery, with its use of anesthesia and other sedative drugs, can seriously affect a sleep apnea patient’s breathing, out-patient or same-day surgery is not recommended because of possible complications that may arise at home and away from the careful monitoring provided in a hospital.

When people wake up in the morning feeling as though they had little sleep the night before, and their sleep partner is complaining that they sound like a locomotive when they sleep, they may be suffering from a condition called obstructive sleep apnea. This condition is often associated with loud, disruptive snoring regardless of how the person is positioned during sleep as well as feeling tired all the time. They usually wake up numerous times during the night but seldom remember the brief wake period.

One of the main problems with sleep apnea is the person suffering usually does not realize they woke up several times during the evening. Sleep apnea can be in three forms, central, obstructive sleep apnea and mixed. It is caused by the increased carbon dioxide level in the blood and a self-survival mechanism that spurs the body to take a breath, even in their sleep. To appropriately diagnose sleep apnea the person will undergo a polysomnogram, which detects unconscious wake periods. When the person is awakened five or more times per hour, they are concluded to be suffering from sleep apnea.

Snoring is one of the key indicators of obstructive sleep apnea, in that the back of the tongue or the soft tissue in the back of the throat literally flops into the airway. The tissue vibrates, somewhat loudly and can block the throat and the person’s ability to breathe. Loud snoring, a major symptom of obstructive sleep apnea often is so loud that it interrupts the sleep pattern of their sleep partner as well.

Treatment Needed To Restore Free Breathing

There are different treatment methods for obstructive sleep apnea that helps maintain open airways during sleep. Treatment can vary from using dental devices to help hold the jaws in the right position for positive ventilation and others attempt to make sure the nasal passages remain open to help discourage obstructive sleep apnea.

One of the most common treatments of obstructive sleep apnea is the use of breathing masks. The sufferer wears the mask while sleeping, which is connected to a breathing pump that forces air into their mouth and nose while they sleep. This mask insures they receive the necessary oxygen while they sleep and prevents period of apnea.

Although the masks are considered a necessary part of the treatment, many find them uncomfortable and refuse to wear them. Newer, more comfortable masks have been developed to make treatment for obstructive sleep apnea more bearable and therefore followed more often.

Sleep apnea is a condition that is characterized by temporary breathing interruptions during sleep. It is a very common disorder, one that affects millions of people worldwide and one that certainly can be very frightening. Sufferers of this condition experience pauses in their breathing while they are sleeping but they may not even notice it at all.

There are a few different types of sleep apnea that one may experience, one of the most common being obstructive sleep apnea. The reason that obstructive sleep apnea occurs is because during sleep enough air is not able to get into the lungs through the mouth and nose. As a result of this, the amount of oxygen in the blood tends to drop significantly and a pause in breathing occurs, usually signified by a loud snort or choking sound.

What To Do

There are a few different treatment methods that are available for this condition, but medication for sleep apnea has proven to be very effective. Because of this is now one of the most popular treatments. When it comes to using medication for sleep apnea, there are a few different options you can choose from.

Modafinil is the most commonly used medication for sleep apnea, and it is a pill that should be taken once a day to help decrease sleepiness during the day. It works by affecting certain chemicals in the brain and as a result helps to improve alertness and memory. There are a few side effects that may be experienced as a result of taking this medication for sleep apnea which you are going to want to be aware of before starting on the drug. This includes headache, nausea, nervousness and anxiety, upset stomach, diarrhea, dizziness, and back pain. If you experience any of these symptoms you should speak to your doctor as soon as possible and stop taking the medication.

Keep in mind that although this is a very commonly used treatment, doctors will usually not recommend the use of medication for sleep apnea until other methods of treatment have been tried to no avail. But you still need to go to the doctor first.

Although sleep apnea is definitely a frightening condition, it is not usually dangerous and so you should not be worried if you or someone you love is suffering from it. Just make sure that you work together with your doctor so that you can relieve your condition as much as possible and feel your best.

Generally, the term sleep apnea refers to a condition in which a disturbed sleep pattern is noticed, and a common form of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. In fact, sleep apnea which in the Greek language means ‘without breath’ generally also is seen when a person has frequent cessation in breathing while asleep which could even last for a whole minute and which can occur as many as hundred times each night.

Lose Weight, And Quit Smoking

Sleep apnea also affects well over eighteen million Americans, while another common disorder that affects many Americans is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in which some of the symptoms noticed are abdominal bloating as well as nausea, pain and gas, as well as constipation and diarrhea and more. Some of things that you can do to help you with IBS and sleep apnea is to lose weight, sleep on your side, and quit smoking.

The first of these steps that will help you with IBS and sleep apnea is to lose weight in case you are overweight because if your body weighs the right amount then chances are that the frequency of the times that you stop breathing will come down and it is thus vital to managing both IBS and sleep apnea.

You need to also try sleeping on your side rather than on your back, which will help relieve symptoms of sleep apnea and thus further reduce the chances of your overeating during the day which in turn might result in IBS. The more restful sleep you get, the better are your chances of not suffering from IBS and sleep apnea.

Even avoiding alcohol is a measure that can help you with IBS and sleep apnea, as too is quitting smoking because in the latter instance, nicotine from the tobacco you smoke will cause the muscles to relax and thus keep your airways open, and so when you quit smoking, these muscles will not collapse at night and thus allow you to get a good night of sleep and thus prevent the possibility of getting other complications including IBS.

These are certainly very simple changes that need to be made to your lifestyle which you won’t find difficult to make and which will go a long way in dealing with your IBS and sleep apnea problem. Since one condition can affect the other, even dealing with each one on its own can certainly make a difference to the other, and thus provide much needed relief from both disorders.

How does sleep apnea impact your health? Both in a physical and an emotional way. While early symptoms of this disorder include fatigue and daytime drowsiness, if sleep apnea is not treated, more serious complications like heart failure can result. Therefore, it’s vital to understand how sleep apnea impacts your health, because this knowledge will help you minimize or eliminate potentially fatal consequences.

How It Hurts Your Heart

The heart suffers when sleep apnea is undiagnosed or left untreated. Sleep apnea causes a person to stop breathing, anywhere from a few seconds to perhaps a full minute. The heart tries to compensate for the resulting increase of carbon dioxide in the body because the breathing has been stopped. The heart will therefore pump harder in an effort to get rid of the carbon dioxide, but this puts an unnatural and dangerous strain on this major organ. High blood pressure is usually the result. Another recent conclusion by medical researchers is a connection between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation, a condition where the heart valves become weakened and no longer pump blood with the necessary force. Without a doubt, the heart is the first organ to feel the strain caused by sleep apnea, and this sets up potentially fatal consequences for the patient.

Another area in which sleep apnea impacts health is by making you more prone to accidents. Since a person who has sleep apnea wakes up many times during the night, no regular sleep is possible. This results in daytime fatigue, which is often an undisclosed reason for accidents. A lack of restful sleep decreases reflex responses and hand-eye coordination, making a person clumsier and less likely to respond quickly in certain situations.

It’s Just Emotions

It’s not easy going through a day after being awake most of the night. If sleep apnea is left untreated, depression can result. Feelings of despondency and despair may surround a person, decreasing their quality of life and ability to cope with normal situations such as driving, going to work or taking care of the family.

While sleep apnea impacts the health of a person, it also affects family life. The many episodes of waking in the middle of the night may disturb the sleep of family members. The emotional results of this condition negatively affect relationships, while the serious health aspects are likely to cause alarm for the entire household. This writer hopes that by looking at how sleep apnea impacts your health, you’ll finally go to the doctor.