Archive for the 'Sleep Apnea' Category

Obstructive sleep apnea may make nighttime heart attacks more likely than daytime heart attacks, a new study shows.

In obstructive sleep apnea, the upper airway becomes completely or partially blocked, interrupting regular breathing, several times per night.

The new study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, recommends that people who have heart attacks while sleeping at night be screened for obstructive sleep apnea.

The study included 92 people who had recently had a heart attack.

The patients reported what time their heart attack symptoms started. They also took part in a sleep study about 17 days after their heart attack. The sleep study showed that 64 patients had obstructive sleep apnea.

The patients with and without sleep apnea were pretty similar in their backgrounds and medication use. But the timing of their heart attacks was different.

The patients with obstructive sleep apnea were six times more likely to have had their heart attack between midnight and 6 a.m. than during the rest of the day. In contrast, the patients without sleep apnea were more likely to have had their heart attack between 6 a.m. and noon.

According to the recent research, sleep apnea is usually considered more as a disorder in older men, but this is also prevalent in older women, particularly those who have reached menopausal state.

Menopause, despite of age is linked with poor sleep quality and sleep problems like sleep apnea.

These types of sleep problems are thought to be linked with hormonal functioning and also with psychological factors.

Hot flashes, the main symptom of menopause, that occur during sleep have the great ability to affect your sleep qualityby bringing you from a deeper and more restful stage of sleep to a lighter, restorative and less restful stage.

Hot flashes before going to bed can also cause insomnia. But, frequently the causes of insomnia associated with menopause are mainly due to increased anxiety and depression and these can greatly affect the time it takes to fall asleep.

In a premenopausal woman, the occurrence of sleep-disordered breathing, apnea and snoring are quite small, but these appear to rise dramatically after menopause.

But, according to the recent research, the menopausal effects on sleep apnea and snoring are mainly due to increased weight and age other than directly from changes in hormones of menopause stage.

According to the University of Maryland Sociologists, it has been proved that Americans are sleeping more and they are less prone to the problem of sleep disorders.

The latest survey shows that out of 100 percent, only 10 percent of the people are suffering with sleep problems and the rest of them are getting enough sleep necessary for them.

Most Americans work too much. They plan their schedule perfectly and feel themselves like they are on a 24/7 treadmill. In their typical time schedule itself, they are allocating time for their sleep. They feel that without proper sleep or rest, they cannot be able to do the work perfectly.

Nowadays, Americans became more health conscious and they are taking care of their health in each and every aspect. They also found that several disadvantages and health problems (sometimes severe) obtain without proper sleep, so in order to maintain their health in the perfect manner; they are giving preference for their sleep.

Sleep is considered as the essential thing which is necessary for the people of all ages as it makes our body to attain rest. Each and every part of our body will become relaxed while sleeping and they will be recharged or become active with in that time.

According to the latest research, it has been found that children who are suffering with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are more likely to face several respiratory problems when compared to the normal children of the same age without OSA.

Experts say that this situation arises in children who are suffering with Obstructive Sleep Apnea because they do not contain the same airway closing as the normal children without OSA.

The study performed by jingtao huang, PhD of children’s hospital of Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania has proved some facts.

In their study, they considered 9 children who are suffering with Obstructive Sleep Apnea syndrome and 12 normal children. They conducted upper airway perception tests for both groups of children i.e. with OSAs and without OSAs.

In their tests, they found that the children who are suffering with OSA have developed several respiratory problems because they are not getting support from the protective neurologic responses where as the normal children are getting them.

Due to this problem, children who are suffering with obstructive sleep apnea had increase in their airway muscle tone as a response for the negative pressure. It also increased the breathing load or high carbon dioxide levels are taken in due to this change. Breathing high carbon dioxide levels certainly had negative effects and several lung or respiratory problems results due to this problem.

The latest research found that, out of the total population through out the world, 10% of the people are suffering with the problem of sleep apnea.

It indicates that millions of people through out the world are suffering with this problem.

Experts also say that close relationship is bonded between sleep apnea and congestive heart failure.

There are more chances to obtain the congestive heart failure for the people who are suffering with sleep apnea.

The recent studies which are carried out on the relationship between the congestive heart failure and sleep apnea found the reason for it.

People who are suffering with the sleep apnea will get damage at the right side of the heart. Due to this, pumping of the heart will be harder and more effort is needed from the lungs in order to beat this airway obstruction.

Tests have been conducted for the people who are suffering with the heart disease and found that almost 95% of those people are suffering with the sleep apnea.

Generally people who are suffering with this problem don’t know at which stage they are and what type of measures are needed for them in order to prevent this problem.

According to latest research, surgery will not give the clear benefits for the sleep apnea where as the long term treatments gave the better benefits when compared to it.

There is no age limit for sleep apnea, it can affect from the small kids to the older people. But, most of the sufferers with this disease are middle aged and over weight people.

The basic treatment which is suggested by the experts to solve the problem of sleep apnea is CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).

Along with the CPAP machine, some other procedures are also included in it like weight control and alcohol management procedures. If it is controlled by this, then it’s ok, otherwise they opt to go for surgery.

If you have depression, you are five times more likely to develop sleep apnea, a breathing-related sleep disorder, than non-depressed people.

Doctors do not stop with first diagnosis, if the patient has depression, instead detect whether there is breathing-related sleep disorder or not.

Breathing related sleep disorders include chronic and disruptive snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.

When sleep apnea is left untreated, it can lead to hypertension, cognitive deterioration and stroke. It also affects your regular routine and disturbs your social, familial and professional life.

According to the studies, sleep apnea is associated with higher rates of depressive disorder and treating sleep apnea helps in controlling depression in patients.

Link between sleep apnea and depression:

If you have depression, fatigue or social relationship problems, you can have the primary problem of sleep apnea. If you snore, gasp, or pause in breathing during sleep, you have to consult the sleep specialist immediately.

The symptoms of depression such as sad feelings, discouragement, feelings of excessive personnel failures, decrease in self-confidence, inability to derive pleasure from things, and suicidal thoughts can attribute to obstructive sleep apnea, which is an easily treatable medical illness.

Serious side effects are associated with sleep apnea. So, it is called as a life threatening disease. It can cause several physical and psychological problems besides the blood pressure and heart complications.

The latest research has proved that the risk of accidents have increased a lot in the patients who are suffering with sleep apnea. Hallucinations, depressions, mental confusion, fatigue and some psychotic disorders are most often seen in the person who is suffering with sleep apnea.

Due to these aspects, they will be loosing their peace of mind and lot of confusion will be obtained in their work. Due to lack of concentration with more confusion, people with sleep apnea are facing accidents.