sleep apnea, c2rc2

SLEEP APNEA 
with sleep apnea you breathe shallow or quit breathing
while you are asleep  
some people will do this a hundred times a night
obstructive sleep apnea (osa) is the most common form
of sleep apnea

osa occurs when the there are repeated episodes of
obstruction of the upper airways    
patients with this work hard to open the airways using their
diaphragms and chest muscles to get air into their lungs    
when the breathing occurs there can be loud gasping, snoring ,
or jerking of the body

all this interferes with sleep and can lower the oxygen level
to the vital organs-brain, heart, kidneys

many times the patient with osa do not realize that they
do this but their partners do

symptoms of osa are fatigue, being sleepy in the daytime,
dry mouth in the morning, headaches, trouble concentrating,
forgetfulness, depression or irritibility, restlessness,
sexual dysfunction, snoring, sudden awakenings at night
with gasping or choking, and difficulty getting up in the morning

patients with osa are more likely to be overweight (>50%),
one in 25 are men and one in 50 women,
if someone you are kin to has it then you are more likely
to have it     chances of getting osa goes up with age
(why does all the bad stuff get worse as you get older-
aint right)

osa is more common in people with thick necks--well
men in my family look in the mirror
osa is more common in patients with small airways-throat,
nose, or mouths(not a problem with my kinfolks)
kids and adults  can have osa from enlarged or swollen  tonsils

risks factors for getting osa are overweight, age,
sex-not the act, hypertension, and risks factors for
heart disease and strokes    this includes most of the
men folk in my family

osa is diagnosed first by seeing your doctor for an exam
and a sleep history     of course i think the doctor should be
your primary care doctor

osa is usulaly diagnosed with a sleep study  usually in a
sleep lab
the study monitors airflow, oxygen level, breathing patterns,
brain activity, heart rate, blood pressure and muscle activity

if osa is diagnosed sometimes 10% weight loss can make a
difference
sleeping pills and alcohol may be eliminated as they can
aggravate osa
some patients have osa only on their backs so devices as
pillow and things sewn into shirts to keep the patient off
their backs can help-have had patients sew a tennis ball
into the back of their sleeping shirts
some patients with nasal congestion can be treated with
daily nasal sprays to keep the nasal  airway open
around here we have a lot of allergy problems so some
patients get benefit from using nightly steroid nasal sprays

most patients are treated with a cpap machine and wear
a mask over their nose and mouth which then blows air into
their airways to keep all the tissues of the airway open

some patients may benefit from surgical procedures to
make the airway larger such as a tonsillectomy, removing
extra tissue, fixing a deviated septum etc
these are done if the cpap doesnt work

biggest problem i see in my practice is that patients
get the evaluation done and get the cpap machine and
then dont use it-a big waste (waist) of a lot of money-

but those with bad osa who have a lot of symptoms and
use the machine can have a life changing experience
many loose the day time sleepiness, the marked fatique,
notice a drop in blood pressure and have an over all feeling
of well being

information from www.webmd.com and my experiences
with osa in my practice

C2RC2
well today is chair to root canal 2   its the follow up
visit but still have to have all that .... done again


the organicgreen doctor