Central sleep apnea causes – Part 1

There are three types of sleep apnea. Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Central Sleep Apnea, and also mixed apnea which is just a combination of the two. Obstructive is the most common, but Central Sleep Apnea is just as dangerous to the health. Obstructive Sleep Apnea pertains to something obstructing the airway, such as enlarged tonsils or adenoids. Central Sleep Apnea is caused from a malfunction in the thalamus area of the brain. It also has to do with the mechanism in the brain that controls breathing functions.

Symptoms of Central Sleep Apnea include, but are not limited to:

Shortness of breath while sleeping, ranging anywhere from one time to coutless times..

Inability to stay asleep.

Extreme malaise during the daytime.

Snoring usually isn’t an issue with Central Sleep Apnea.

Some common cuases of Central Sleep Apnea are as follows:

Heart failure

Kidney failure

any injury affecting the lower brain stem

secondary radiation in the area

Poliomyelitis

Encephalitis

meurodegnerative diseases

complications of surgery to the cervical spine

Radiation treatments on or near cervical spine

Stroke

Diagnosing Central Sleep Apnea:

Close personal observation of syptoms.

Watching whom the person is sleeping next to.

Overnight sleep studies

MRI

Tests for underlying causes

Many complication can arise due to Central Sleep Apnea such as, sleep deprivation, mood swings, irratability, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Diagnosis and treatment varies based on the individual, but for most treatment with the drugs acerazlamide and theophllinr is used to stimulate the need to breath. In certain severe cases continuous airway pressure may necessary. Other drugs may also be used and include: protripolyne, klonopin.

What is Sleep Apnea

Are you feeling sleepy all the time? Do you snore? Is your doctor having a difficult time treating your high blood pressure? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you might have Sleep Apnea (also called Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA).

Sleep Apnea is a condition involving pauses or decreases in breathing during sleep. It is usually due to airway collapse. This collapse occurs in the nose and/or the throat – anywhere from where air enters the nostrils to the back of the tongue. Imagine a straw collapsing when trying to suck on a thick milkshake. Frequently, this airway collapsibility problem is inherited and starts in childhood. In the daytime, it is not a problem because there is good muscle-tone in the airway and the brain monitors breathing. But at night, the throat muscles become relaxed and the brain is not as attentive to the airway. So on inhalation, the airway walls can either completely collapse or significantly narrow. This is a problem because 1) the body must struggle to breathe and 2) the brain has to “wake up” to reopen the airway.

These frequent awakenings lead to fragmentation of nighttime sleep. You may not remember them because they are so short. In fact, patients with sleep apnea can wake-up more than 30 times an hour and think that they slept uninterrupted through the night. Since sleep must be continuous and consolidated in order to be restorative, a number of cognitive problems can occur with sleep fragmentation: daytime sleepiness, memory problems, concentration difficulties, emotional instability, irritability, slowed reaction time, and most importantly, an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents.

There are also cardiovascular consequences of this constant “struggling to breathe.” This puts a strain on the heart and blood vessels, leading to increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

Finally, there are social implications to Sleep Apnea. The snoring associated with sleep apnea can disrupt the sleep of others. In fact, one study showed that when a person treats his/her sleep apnea, the sleep partner gets the equivalent of one hour more sleep per night.

Sleep apnea is a progressive disease and often gets worse with age. Weight gain, alcohol, and other sedating/relaxing substances exacerbate it.

Who Gets Sleep Apnea?

A common misconception is that only overweight men that snore loudly have sleep apnea, but the facts are:

1) Sleep apnea can occur without snoring
2) Thin people can have sleep apnea
3) Women can have sleep apnea
4) Children can have sleep apnea

In other words, anyone can have it. Even skinny women. Even children.

I Think I Might Have Sleep Apnea, How Do I Find Out If I Have It?

Make an appointment with your primary care physician, or if your insurance allows it, go straight to a sleep specialist. If your physician thinks you might have sleep apnea, then he/she can refer you for a sleep study or comprehensive sleep evaluation.

How Is Sleep Apnea Treated?

There are four main categories of treatment for sleep apnea: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), Surgery, Oral Appliances, and Behavioral Modification.

The most effective way to treat sleep apnea is with CPAP. CPAP is a mask worn over the nose attached by a hose to an air compressor. The air compressor gently and quietly blows room-air into the nose, which “stents” the airway open, preventing airway collapse. This is the most effective way to treat sleep apnea, and all patients diagnosed with sleep apnea should at least try it before considering other options.

Surgery can be an effective way to treat sleep apnea. A number of different procedures can be performed. These range from nasal septum repair to jaw reconstruction. Talk to your doctor about whether surgery is the right option for you.

An oral appliance is a device made by a dentist or an orthodontist designed to pull your lower jaw forward. By pulling your lower jaw forward, the tongue is pulled away from the back of the throat. If your airway obstruction is occurring behind the tongue, then this can be an effective way to treat your sleep apnea. The treatment of sleep apnea with oral appliance should be a coordinated effort between the sleep physician, the dentist/orthodontist, and the patient.

Behavioral modifications can help in the treatment of sleep apnea, but are usually the least effective. These include such techniques as weight loss, sleeping on your side, and avoiding alcohol before bedtime.

None of these treatment options is ideal, but they all can be useful in treating sleep apnea and resulting in more restful sleep. With risks like heart attack and stroke, you should do everything you can to get your sleep apnea under control. If you think you have sleep apnea, contact your doctor or go to a sleep center. It could be the best decision you ever made.

Sleep apnea and depression

Little is known about why we sleep. What is the purpose of sleep? In spite of centuries of searching for the answer to this question, research into the phenomenon of sleep has produced only theories. There is no conclusive answer available. On the other hand, a great deal is known about the effects of not getting enough sleep.

Sleep deprivation is associated with physical as well as mental and emotional maladies. Sleep apnea cessation of breathing during sleep is a specific type of sleep deprivation that has received a great deal of attention is the recent past. Physical consequences of sleep apnea include high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, headaches, and male impotence. Mental capacity is adversely affected which is indicated by difficulty in concentrating and impaired memory.

There is also a connection between sleep apnea and depression. One confounding factor in this relationship is that sleep apnea and depression share several symptoms. Fatigue, low motivation, and irritability are common complaints of individuals diagnosed with both sleep apnea and depression. According to Dr. Maurice Ohayon of the Stanford University School of Medicine, his research demonstrates that an individual who suffers from depression is five times more likely to also have a sleep disorder.

Controlled scientific research provides important data that is needed to diagnose and appropriately treat medical disorders such as sleep apnea and depression. As a polysomnographic technologist, or sleep tech, I have witnessed first-hand the relationship between sleep apnea and depression. Preparing a patient for a sleep study involves placing belts around their chest and abdomen, electrodes on the scalp for sensing brain waves, and several other probes and sensors. The process of placing all of this hardware takes about 45 minutes. That time is usually filled with conversation. Of course I explain to the patient what I am doing and what the night will be like, but there is also much small talk. On rare occasions, patients are resistant to being engaged in any exchange. On this particular night, I had such a patient, who I’ll call Wendy.

It had been previously determined that Wendy did, in fact, have sleep apnea. My assignment was to determine the appropriate treatment for Wendy. One common treatment for sleep apnea involves placing a tight fitting mask on the patient and applying continuous positive pressure to the airway. This is known as CPAP. This pressure stabilizes

Insomnia – Harmful Side Effects, Natural Remedy

Did you know that 64 million Americans suffer from insomnia each year? Insomnia is a sleeping disorder in which a person has a difficulty in falling asleep, even if he is able to find sleep he wakes up frequently within minutes of sleeping. The most familiar type is called secondary insomnia. Secondary means that the insomnia is a symptom or a side effect of disease, medicines that can delay or disrupt sleep, anxiety, pain, stimulants or depressants. It is a serious disorder, which needs immediate medical attention.

The Harmful Side Effects Of Modern Medicine On Insomniac Patients

When a person is diagnosed with insomnia he is put on a period of pill taking. These pills have a major drawback or side effects associated with them ranging from morning headache, attention disorder, feeling of tiredness all day, high blood pressure, memory loss and even mood changes.

So What To Take In Place Of These Dangerous Pills

With so many ill effects of modern medicine on a patient, it is not harmful to try out alternative medicine or natural remedy as a cure for insomnia. They do take time to make an impact but the natural remedy cure is permanent. Here we are going to put an eye on some of the traditional natural remedy, which have been used effectively for thousands of years to cure patients suffering from insomnia. Now you might wonder what is natural remedy.

Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicines are medicines derived from plants or their extracts. There are many kinds of herbal medicines available. Although there is no scientific proof of their benefits but their effectiveness is known to all. At present around 70% of the world uses herbal medicines as the primary medicine
Are There Home Remedies For Snoring

Do you snore? It is okay if you do because it is a sleeping disorder that affects millions. While you might think that you can get rid of it using some home remedies, doing some changes happen to have better results.

Studies have shown that the reason why people snore is because of alcohol, smoking or overeating. Things get worse when you have these bad habits all together.
The only solution is to stop it and the best way to do it is on a gradual basis so avoid experiencing withdrawal symptoms making you go back to square one.

As for losing weight, the only way to do this is with exercise, changes in your diet and lifestyle. A dietitian can help plan your meals, a trainer can make an exercise program. The only thing you have to do now is follow everything as directed.

Another study has shown that people who have insomnia also snore. This can be treated by exercising in the evening or simply reading a book so your eyes get heavy and fall off to sleep.

Sleeping in the wrong position also causes a person to snore and this happens when you sleep on your side so try lying on your back as this will reduce pressure on the airway. You can also put more pillows on the bed or raise it.

Read about Herbal Remedies, Home Remedies Also Read about Home Remedies and Herbs

Snoring And Sleep Apnea Are Very Different From One Another

According to experts in the medical profession, there are millions of people that snore as a result of vibrating tissues of the throat or upper airway. There are different instances of snoring that may be nothing more than a mild disturbance, or it may be symptomatic of something more serious such as sleep apnea. People that snore can often have had a history of such an ailment that may lead to even more severe instances such as being overly sleepy during the daytime as well as having memory loss or headaches in the morning.

Both Sleep Disorders But with Different Consequences

Snoring and sleep apnea are both sleep disorders in which snoring can be nothing more than a disturbance of not much importance which may also be symptomatic of sleep apnea. The difference between snoring and sleep apnea is that snoring is only a disorder that does not require medical treatment whereas sleep apnea is something that may be termed as a grave medical condition.

There as many as 18 million Americans with sleep apnea that have not been treated nor even been diagnosed. It is a condition that is grave enough to cause high blood pressure as well as excessive oxygen flowing into the brain and it is serious enough to threaten a person’s life. Sleep apnea should be treated as soon as possible, or else it can result in a person having problems during the daytime and many other worse medical disorders.

Snoring and sleep apnea are quite different from one another in other ways as well and the vast majority of those that have sleep apnea will not even know that they have such a condition. Whereas snoring can be ignored without peril to one’s health, in the case of sleep apnea, treatment is essential if one is not to succumb to its life threatening consequences.

There are also other differences between snoring and sleep apnea in that snoring can be mild or serious, whereas there are many different forms of sleep apnea including obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and mixed sleep apnea. Snoring will only result in voluminous sounds that can happen while breathing in your sleep, and it may or may not be in conjunction with sleep apnea, and it does not signify stopped breathing. Sleep apnea does mean that a person has stopped breathing albeit temporarily.

Disturbed Sleep

Snoring and sleep apnea are also distinct from one another because sleep apnea may cause the patient to waken from his or her sleep before falling asleep again, and this sleep/waking/sleep cycle can continue even a hundred times each night. Snoring does not usually cause a person to wake from his or her sleep, and in the event a person does waken him or she can easily drop off to sleep again without further awakenings. So, whereas snoring can be ignored without much risk to the snorer, sleep apnea is something that, if left untreated, can cause harm to your life.

Mom Snoring Could be a Cause of a Great Deal of Embarrassment

What is snoring?

Snoring is the act of producing unpleasant sound in a high or soft tone of sound while sleeping. The root cause of snoring is vibration in the respiratory structure, which causes obstruction in the air movement while sleeping. During sleeping the muscles, which are at the back of the throat, relax, due to which the air passage is partly blocked due to the structures known as soft palate. The structures of the snoring are generally of the uvula and the soft plate.

Do women snores more than men?

There is a possibility of Women snoring as loudly as men do. Women snore more loudly with the increasing of age. In comparison with women men sleep much more soundly.

Mom Snoring

Snoring crates a great deal of problems and increases the stress for many women. Snoring is also a cause of a great deal of embarrassment. Snoring gives them a great deal of problems and makes them uncomfortable.

Usually the with the increasing age snoring also increases. Usually snoring starts from the age 35 onwards. Many day-to-day changes in the lifestyles also cause snoring. Snoring is just a nuance but it is also one the most acute problems.

According to the Swedish there is a risk factor for high blood pressure and delivering smaller babies due to habitual snoring during the time of pregnancy. The incidence of high blood pressure, preeclampsia, abnormal accumulation of fluid in the tissues, and weight gain is most common for the habitual snores.

A condition which is associated with the pregnancy is High blood pressure and preeclampsia. This conditon is associated pregnancy is that which involves a high blood pressuse, increase in the amount of the proteins in the blood, proteins in the urine is developed in the snorers. Around the world may great scientist have showed the link between increasing snoring rate and pregnancy. Futhur studies have reveled the connection between a connection between avdverse effect of the snoring of the mother with the high blood pressuer.

Snoring in women also causes diruptions in breating. It causes sleep apnea which is related to the stopping of the breath. Smoking habits also affects the snoring habits, and causes ill-effects during pregnancy. Women who have habitual snoring gain more weight duing pregnency in comparision with the non-snoring pregnant women. The snorer pregnant women experience more tetention in the fluid.

The mothers who are habitual snorers are considered small for the gestational age at birth. During sleeping the consequences of increased upper airway resistance leads toa possibilty to affect the fetus. It also supports the relationship between intrauterine growth retardation and sleep apnea.

Babies of habitual snoring moms may have a retadation in their growth and have face problems in the delay of their entire growth. These babies are smaller than the other average babies.

According to the various research, the habitual snorer faces problems of obstruction in the airways during the night times contributes to the increase of high blood pressure and preeclampsia in pregnancy.

Stop Grinding Teeth.Bruxism Cure Saves Smile And You Stop Grinding Teeth