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Loud Snoring is Really a Symptom of Sleep Apnea

You are woken up many times during the night by a member of the family snoring. It is irritating and may prevent sleep for everyone in the house. It sometimes could even be funny. What you don’t know is loud snoring is actually damaging to a individuals health and can be the sign of a very severe sleeping condition as well as basic issues do not usually remedy it. Below are a few remedies that can be tried to resolve ridiculous loud snoring and symptoms to look for that could determine if the condition demands medical help.

Snoring is actually caused by air passage passages becoming partially obstructed. When you’re conscious, your muscles help to keep the actual airway between your nose and lung area open as well as functioning correctly. Nevertheless, when in heavy rest these muscles relax and the air passage can become blocked by soft tissues. When it is mild, it can be irritating to everybody and make the sufferer not get sufficient sleep. This can cause exhaustion during the day, headaches, concentration issues, and reduce performance of work as well as daily activities.

A number of things can be done to reduce or get rid of snoring. The actual patient should rest with their head elevated and ideally on the side.

Being obese attributes to the air passage becoming obstructed and losing extra pounds will help. A normal rest routine can make a huge difference as well. Dairy products shouldn’t be eaten before bed since it increases mucous which makes it harder to inhale. Eating a large dinner before going to sleep can push on the diaphragm and limit inhaling and exhaling capability. Try sinus pieces, anti-snoring tablets, or sprays. Placing a warm air humidifier in the bedroom can open the airway making inhaling and exhaling easier. In the event that none of methods work, there may be a far more serious issue.

Loud snoring is a symptom of a sleep disorder called sleep apnea. Somebody struggling with this condition may display additional signs and symptoms. What is sleep apnea? It’s a worse type of snoring where the air passage may collapse causing breathing to stop. This is often deadly if breathing is not restored. Someone going through this will stop inhaling and exhaling for seconds and awaken gasping for air as their body has recognized breathing isn’t happening and it is attempting to force air through the passage.

Symptoms for this include loud snoring, pauses in breathing and gasping for air. As the issue progresses, other symptoms for example memory issues, focus problems, mood swings, becoming easily irritated, and possibly depression symptoms may arise. Severe health issues could be directly associated with deteriorating health brought on by the disorder. If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these indicators, see your personal doctor.

This is a situation that won’t disappear or improve without having medical attention. By not visiting a doctor, the patient can experience hypertension, coronary heart failure, or perhaps a cardiac arrest. Try regular techniques to reduce the struggling. If these do not work or breathing stops while asleep, don’t hesitate. A physician can assess the experience, determine if a sleeping disorder exists, and get the necessary treatment started that can create a permanent difference and stop any bad outcomes that could come from sleep apnea.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/loud-snoring-is-really-a-symptom-of-sleep-apnea-5101867.html

Available Treatments for Moderate to Mild Sleep Apnea

What’s an Apnea?

An apnea is a pause in breathing. In sleep apnea, these pauses happen during sleep, and can be caused by physical or neurological causes. The breathing gaps can happen 5 (mild) to over 50 (severe) times in an hour.

The most common sign of sleep apnea is snoring. This normally happens when the tongue falling down into the throat causes problem. Other sleep apnea symptoms are:

• Restlessness during sleep
• Frequently waking up
• Gasping or choking
• Difficulty sleeping
• Morning or night migraines
• General fatigue and sleepiness throughout the day

While this disorder may appear harmless, it does have long-term effects on the sufferers. Because the breathing is impaired during sleep, it can cause problems to the brain. They also tend to feel tired and unfocused even if they appear to have gotten hours of sleep. This is because the quality of their sleep is very poor.

Available Treatments

CPAP, or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, is one of the most common treatments recommended by doctors. It is a mask fitted over the nose, or the nose and mouth, which provides a steady stream of oxygen. This helps the wearer keep breathing even when there are obstructions in the airway. It is also shown to prevent the airway itself from collapsing.

Some patients tend to complain that the device is difficult to wear and causes difficulty sleeping. Others simply say that it is not effective for them. There are CPAP alternatives that are available in the market. Some of these provide a version of the CPAP method with greater variation in the air pressure.

The BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure), also called VPAP (Variable Positive Airway Pressure) has two different settings for air pressure. These correspond to the patient’s every intake and release of breath. More customized is the APAP (Automatic Positive Airway Pressure), wherein the wearer’s every breath is monitored so that the air pressure is changed correspondingly.

Other than these air pressure devices, there are oral and dental devices that prevent the tongue from falling into the throat. These hold the jaw forward to help the airway. These may cause problems with the position of the mouth, so it is advisable to see a doctor to recommend or custom-fit the correct one.

Problems with Lifestyle

Simply changing sleeping position can help relieve the sleep apnea symptoms. Elevating the torso, lying on the stomach, or sleeping on the side helps prevent the tongue from falling down the throat and obstructing breathing.

Losing weight and stopping the intake of medicine and alcohol can also significantly reduce the symptoms. Excess fat can block airway while taking substances may make the muscles too relaxed in sleep.

There is more you can do if you are experiencing the symptoms of sleep apnea. Its best to catch this disorder before it can cause serious problems. The website www.ApneaTreatmentGuide.com has more information that can help you.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/available-treatments-for-moderate-to-mild-sleep-apnea-1439545.html

5 Things You MUST Know About Sleep Apnea Surgery

Sleep apnea surgery is one of the most controversial subjects in sleep medicine. There are heated debates within the sleep community as well as in online forums and support groups. Sleep apnea surgery is definitely not for everyone, for some, it can be a life-changing experience.

Here are 5 important issues that you must be aware of before considering any form of sleep apnea surgery:

1. Does sleep apnea surgery work?

Yes, but only when done properly. Just like with CPAP or dental devices, if you don’t use it properly or use it at all, it won’t work.

One of the most common misconceptions about sleep apnea surgery is the relatively low success rate of the uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) procedure, which is often quoted at 40%. But performing this operation is like bypassing only one blocked heart vessel when you have 3 other vessels that are blocked. For some strange reason, ENTs are overly obsessed with the soft palate, since this is where snoring usually comes from and we have the most research and procedures for the soft palate.

We now know that if you address the entire upper airway together (nose, soft palate, tongue), then your success rates are much better, approaching 80%. Why only 80%? There’s only so much you can do with the soft tissues within the small space within smaller jaws (which is the main anatomic reason for sleep apnea). The more aggressive you are, the higher the success rate, but the more chance of pain and complications.

If you go to the next level and enlarge your jaws (upper and lower), then success rates can reach 90 to 95%.

To put things into perspective, if you bypassed everything with a tracheotomy (placing a breathing tube below your voice box), then you’ll have a 100% “cure”, but obviously, this is not a very practical option.

One question you must ask then, is, what’s the meaning of success? In surgery, one common definition is that the final AHI (apnea hypopnea index) on a formal sleep study drops greater than 50% of the original and the final number has to be less than 20. One of the main criticisms of sleep apnea surgery is that even if “successful”, you may still have mild sleep apnea. Surgeons will argue that it’s better than not using CPAP at all.

2. Not All Surgeries Are The Same

There are probably dozens of procedures for sleep apnea from various nasal, soft palate and tongue operations to skeletal framework procedures. These can range from minimally invasive to major surgery. The problem is that by definition, they’ll all work to a certain degree. For example, procedures for a stuffy nose have been shown to “cure” sleep apnea in 10% of patients. But for the most part, none of these options by themselves have very good success rates.

The key is to examine the upper airway for each individual and figure out where the obstruction is and take care of it simultaneously. Most people have more than one area of obstruction. Surgeons at Stanford have about a 75 to 80% success rate with soft palate and tongue base procedures. This is called multi-level surgery for sleep apnea. You have to look at the airway from the tip of the nose all the way to the voice box.

3. There’s No Cure for Sleep Apnea

Unless we all undergo tracheotomies, there’s no way to prevent breathing pauses at night. Modern humans’ upper airway anatomy is thought to be predisposed to breathing problems at night, which only gets worse as we age. I talk about why this problem has gotten much worse in recent years in my book, Sleep, Interrupted. All of us are on a continuum, where various factors (anatomy, age, weight, inflammation, etc.) contribute to forces that make our tongues and palates to collapse. The older we get, we’ll either gain weight, which narrows our breathing passageways, or our throat tissues will sag and collapse easier.

Surgery will shift the line of this continuum downwards, but it won’t bring it down completely. This is why it’s important to incorporate a healthy diet and lifestyle and exercise regimen into any sleep apnea treatment regimen.

For most people, lowering the numbers significantly will make you feel much better. But sometimes, the numbers will go down dramatically, but you may not feel any better. This just goes to show that there may be other issues besides sleep apnea that have to be addressed. You’ve had sleep apnea for years or decades. Just by fixing your sleep apnea won’t immediately fix problems that can arise from sleep apnea, such as hormonal problems, weight gain, or memory problems and brain fog.

4. Surgery is the Last Resort, But Don’t Rule It Out

Admittedly, there are many people who rush to surgery prematurely, but there are also many others that aren’t even offered surgery due to misconceptions by physicians. There are also many patients that are turned off by all the conflicting information that’s available on the internet.

Before you even think about surgery, make sure you’ve tried or considered all the other options thoroughly. Most people who fail CPAP do so because of poor counseling, support and followup by the medical system. Just like everything else with life, your chances of success depends on which doctors you see. The follow-up and support offered by  your CPAP equipment vendor can also play an important role in whether or not you’ll benefit from CPAP. The same issues also apply with dental devices for sleep apnea.

This is why it’s important to educate yourself about all the treatment options, and not to give up too easily. Too many people give up at this point, and don’t consider any further treatments. Surround yourself with a group of trusted doctors and professionals that forms a team. Use their expertise and guidance to find a way to make things work. If nothing works for you, don’t rule out surgery just for the sake of avoiding surgery. Learn and educate yourself about surgery before rejecting it.

5. How to Find the Right Surgeon

Finding the right surgeon for your sleep apnea condition can be challenging. Everyone claims to specialize in snoring and sleep apnea surgery. Who are you to believe?

First of all, find someone who’s comfortable performing a wide range of procedures in all the three areas of the upper airway (nose, soft palate and tongue). Are they familiar with the minimally invasive procedures as well as the standard options? No everyone will be an expert at all the procedures, but it’s important to know about all the other options as well as well as to make appropriate referrals when necessary.

There are a variety of “minimally invasive” procedures out there, especially for the soft palate, but these procedures have to be offered very selectively. Even if successful initially, is your surgeon prepared for relapsed that are likely years later? Is the goal of surgery only to cover up the snoring, or will it treat the underlying anatomic causes?

If your surgeon recommends palatal surgery “just to see,” without addressing the entire upper airway from the nose to the tongue, go for a second opinion. If you do decide to undergo a palatal procedure (with or without tonsillectomy), be prepared for a 60% failure rate, which means that the tongue needed to be addressed as well. Sometimes, more needs to be done to the soft palate or the nose has to be addressed. Everyone is different, and the treatment recommendations have to be tailored to the individual.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/5-things-you-must-know-about-sleep-apnea-surgery-1405130.html

Anyone knows how to deal with sleep apnea?

My husband has been experiencing sleep apnea. His medications are quite expensive that’s why I’m looking for something that might be less costly for his treatment. Anything that you know of please let me know. Thanks….

Have I just found the cure for Sleep Apnea?

I suffer from sleep apnea, and I use a CPAP device to sleep at night. This device records an AHI, an apnea index. Normally, that index is around 5.0 for an average night for me. Last night, I took cough syrup – a Chinese brand, it says “Traditional Chinese Herbal Cough Syrup” on the box, and a name I can’t read, because it’s in Chinese. Guess what happened: For the first time ever, the AHI index read “0.0″ in the morning. I was flabbergasted. Have I just discovered the cure for sleep apnea? Is it possibly one of the ingredients?

This is what’s in it, according to a supplied ingredients list:

Tendrilleaf Fritillary Bulb
Loquat Leaf
Fourleaf Ladybell Root
Indian Bread
Pummelo Peel
Platycodon Root
Prepared Pinellia Tuber
Chinese Magnoliavine Fruit
Snakegourd Seed
Common Coltsfoot Flower
Thinleaf Milkwort Root
Bitter Apricot Seed
Fresh Ginger
Liquorice Root
Almond Extract
Menthol
Honey
Maltose
Syrup

Can you have sleep apnea and suffer from insomnia?

5’2 and 135 pounds. Husband says I quit breathing and my snoring is waking everyone. But I am unable to sleep without taking trazadone. Just doubled my strength because I am only sleeping about 3 or 4 hours a night. Seems like if I have sleep apnea, I would be able to sleep longer due to being so tired. Have an appointment next week with the sleep clinic. this is really affecting my life and the ability to concentrate
Today is my first day using this answer thing and I dont know how to respond to anyone that gives me an answer. I just want to say thanks for answering me.