The ThingsYou Can Learn About Sleep Apnea

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Thursday, May 28th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

If there is reduction or stoppage of breathing of a person while asleep, the diagnosis could be sleep apnea.Routine visits to the doctor, however, are usually not enough to detect sleep apnea and this disorder often goes undiagnosed. Because the condition manifests only while sleeping, most patients would not be able to tell first-hand if they have symptoms of sleep apnea. This problem could only surface if a patient’s bed partner or family member notices the condition.

Diagnosis may reveal any of three types of sleep apnea. These apnea classifications are central apnea, obstructive apnea, and combined central and obstructive apnea.

Central apnea occurs when the brain of a person asleep fails to activate the muscles for breathing. On the other hand, if the sleeper’s airway collapses, there is obstructive apnea. This is the most common type of sleep apnea and occurs mostly in overweight patients. Obstructive sleep apnea has several possible complications. These include heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, daytime sleepiness, difficulty in concentration and thinking which could result in accidents while driving. To diagnose and evaluate obstructive sleep apnea, a patient will undergo physical examination and polysomnography. If you think you might be suffering from sleep apnea you should see a doctor for sleep apnea treatments.

It is very important for a person with obstructive sleep apnea to undergo treatment. The temptation is great for a person with this problem to just ignore the disorder. The treatment may involve the inconvenience of wearing dental appliances and masks nightly. Using a sleep apnea dentist is uncomfortable at first but you can get used to it. A chin strap for sleep apnea is slightly less uncomfortable, but is very unattractive. There’s surgery, but it’s painful and there is no guarantee for successful treatment.For these discouraging reasons on surgery and personal appliances, only 10% of sleep apnea patients have been estimated to have undergone treatment.

It is therefore important to educate the rest of the 90% of those patients of the consequences of non-treatment of their disorder.r In addition to putting themselves at risk, they likewise pose risk to others particularly when driving. To the patient, the non-treatment of obstructive sleep apnea carries the increased risk of strokes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, poor work productivity, reduced attentiveness, and in extreme cases, untimely death.

Treatment of patients suffering from obstructive apnea should be discussed with the doctor as soon as possible. Other than surgery, wearing mask and dental appliances, there are more palatable treatments of patients. These include behavioral therapy, continuous positive airway pressure, auto-titrating continuous positive airway pressure, and bi-level positive airway pressure.

Some lifestyle changes of patients could also help in apnea treatment. Avoiding alcoholic drinks, reducing weight and quitting smoking are some lifestyle change options. Sleeping at a 30-degree elevation of the body could also help by preventing the collapse of the airway due to gravity. Sleeping on a sideways position may also beneficial in reducing the gravitational cause of sleep apnea.

There are several surgical procedures for those patients who elect surgery. Procedures that may be suggested include, nasal surgery, tongue reduction surgery, palate implants, bariatric surgery, maxi-mandibular advancement and uvulopapatopahryngoplasty.

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