Sleep Disorders: Sleep Apnea

Sleep disorders is a broad category encompassing of variety of conditions that affect sleep. Some sleep disorders, like insomnia, prevent sleep from occurring at all. Sleep apnea is different. Instead of keeping you awake, sleep apnea severely impairs the sleep you do get.

No matter what you do, you cannot get enough sleep. And night after night, you go to bed hoping that tonight will be different. Tonight you won�t snore. You�ll have a good night�s rest and wake up tomorrow morning feeling refreshed. But it�s always the same. You always feel terrible in the morning. Day after day, you�re utterly exhausted. You catch yourself falling asleep while driving, in meetings, talking to friends.

Sleep apnea is an unpleasant experience. The passageways from your nose and mouth to your lungs partially or even completely close, resulting in heavy breathing and snoring. Air can�t get to your lungs and the excess of Carbon Dioxide sends signals to your brain, forcing you to waking up gasping for air. You won�t be aware of anything happening, but you�ll be exhausted the next morning, and will probably have a headache.

There are two type of sleep apnea: Central and Obstructive. Central sleep apnea is a central nervous system disorder where your brain does not send signals telling your body to breath. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when throat and tongue muscles relax during sleep, blocking your airway. Obesity also plays a role in obstructive sleep apnea: excess tissue in the throat can narrow your air passage, making it difficult to breath.

Both types have a variety of treatments. One option for obstructive sleep apnea is surgery. Removing excess tissue around your throat, or strengthening the support of your soft palate, among other types of surgeries can improve your airflow and prevent sleep apnea. Additionally, there is are several types of breathing machines that pump pressurized air through the nose and mouth all night. The machines keep your airway open, and keep oxygen flowing.

Cameron Elliott, a sleep specialist, is an internet manager for AirSleep.com where he champions the benefits of a good night's sleep both for individual health and also for a more safe and efficient world. For more information on ordering air mattresses, visit http://www.airsleep.com/overview.php/1.

Latest Sleep Apnea News

Study shows how sleep apnea may cause stroke (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
A dangerous type of snoring known as sleep apnea can cause stroke by decreasing blood flow, raising blood pressure and harming the brain's ability to modulate these changes, researchers reported on Tuesday.

What Is The Connection Between Sleep Apnea, Stroke And Death? (Science Daily)
Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain's ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself. The findings may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep.

Sleep Apnea Connection to Stroke and Death Explained by New Study (Senior Journal)
Jan. 6, 2009 –Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain’s ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself, according to a new study.

Study helps explain connection between sleep apnea, stroke and death (PhysOrg)
Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain's ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself, according to a new study published by The American Physiological Society. The findings may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep.

Factors Other Than Central Sleep Apnea May Contribute To Poor Sleep Quality In Heart-Failure Patients (Medical News Today)
A study in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep demonstrates that the frequent arousals from sleep that occur in heart failure patients with central sleep apnea (CSA) may reflect the presence of another underlying arousal disorder rather than being a defensive mechanism to terminate apneas.

Diabetics face sleep apnea risk (Detroit Free Press)
Here's a wake-up call to the millions of American men and women with Type 2 diabetes: Snoring at night or nodding off during the day may be symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, a potentially life-threatening problem affecting one out of three diabetics.

St. Mary’s opens sleep disorder center (St. Louis Business Journal)
SSM St. Mary’s Health Center has opened a new facility to treat people who suffer from daytime sleepiness, insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome and other sleep disorders.

Study Says Lack of Sleep Adds Plaque to Heart (ThirdAge)
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- People in their 30s and 40s who got less sleep at night were more likely to develop the early buildup of plaque in the arteries of their heart , according to a new study.

CPAP's Future in an iPod World (PRWeb via Yahoo! News)
Metis Laboratories announces the PapWear(TM) system, a paradigm shift away from the current sleep apnea systems marketed by Respironics (PHG), ResMed (RMD), Fisher Paykel Healthcare (FPH), et al.

Going to the 'sleep nerd'; Technologist helps diagnose sleep disorders (Casper Star-Tribune)
GILLETTE -- Mark Beil has received a family heirloom that he could do without. They call it "the Beil Nose."