Archive for the 'Sleep Apnea' Category
Sleep Apnea Clearance before Surgeries
0 Comments Published by Brian Yalung April 27th, 2008 in Health Issues, SLEEP News, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders, Sleep Issues.
We all know that most people have to undergo serious medical surgeries and normally, prior tests for medical clearance has to be done to avoid complications for these medical procedures. This is a required prerequisite since physicians and patients want to make sure that surgeries to be performed actually solve a medical problem rather than aggravate it.
Sleep apnea has been included in this list and rightfully so. Most of us underrate the issue of sleep apnea and its consequences but just the same, it would be best to be on the safe side.
The test, called STOP test, is very simple containing just four yes/no questions and can be taken without the help of a physician. The questions are as follows: Do you snore loudly? Do you often feel tired, fatigued or sleepy during daytime? Has anyone observed you stop breathing during sleep? Do you have or are you being treated for high blood pressure?
If a patient answers “yes” to two questions, this means he/she is at high risk for sleep apnea, anesthesiologist Frances Chung, M.D. study lead author said, according to the Washington Post. “This patient may need to be monitored for oxygen saturation after surgery and may need more nursing care. Identifying patients with OSA is the first step in preventing postoperative complications. Untreated OSA patients are known to have a higher incidence of difficult intubation, postoperative complications, increased intensive care admissions and greater duration of hospital stay,” he added.
(Source) eFluxmedia
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Nasal Surgery can Relieve Sleep Apnea
0 Comments Published by Brian Yalung April 22nd, 2008 in Health Issues, How to sleep better, SLEEP News, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Issues.
One thing about sleep apnea is that our breathing holes are perhaps the closest that we can associate problems when it comes to our sleep. It is apparent that most people today are having problems with breathing and a lot of the occur when we are asleep.
While we may not readily know the cause, most of it stems from the fact that we may have problems in our respiratory system which in turn will be something that should need special treatment. Surgery is something that makes most people frantic but if it is for a good cause to help sleep apnea issues, then why not?
“The degrees of quality of life improvement, compared with the preoperative generic health status, were 30.4 percent for role-emotional (problems with work or daily activities caused by emotional difficulties), 20.7 percent for role-physical, 18.9 percent for vitality, 14.8 percent for mental health, 11.4 percent for generic health, 7.4 percent for social functioning, 1.6 percent for physical functioning, and 1 percent for bodily pain,” wrote Dr. Hsueh-Yu Li, of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, and colleagues.
“These results suggest that, when nasal obstruction in OSA patients was relieved, their generic health improved, and that the effects were especially remarkable in reducing role limitations caused by physical or emotional problems,” they added.
(Source) Washington Post
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Are You Among the Sleep Apnea Walking Dead?
0 Comments Published by Brian Yalung April 20th, 2008 in Health Issues, How to sleep better, SLEEP News, Sleep Apnea.
If you feel that you are the only person suffering from sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, guess again. Just when you think it is just you or a couple of people suffering from this dreaded sleep issue, sleep apnea has been growing in numbers from recent years and the continuously increasing.
Combine all the people who are suffering from this sleep epidemic and you may finally see the walking dead in the flesh. You may say that it is an overstatement or vague way of putting the whole thing into perspective but unless sleep apnea is given the proper studies and results, chances are this problem will grow out of proportions.
“In the past, obesity-hypoventilation was pretty unusual. Now, in our in-patient hospital service, we usually have at least one or two out of 20 people admitted for that,” he says.
Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of this sleep disorder.
It’s the result of muscles in the upper airway, around the base of the tongue becoming so lax, they collapse and close off all airflow.
(Source) Edmonton Journal
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Truck Drivers Monitored for Sleep Apnea
0 Comments Published by Brian Yalung April 7th, 2008 in How to sleep better, SLEEP News, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders.
Don’t look now but sleep apnea problems are not just limited towards people who work the usual 8 to 5 shift. Truck drivers, known to be out in the road until the wee hours of the morning will be tested as well apparently to address road mishaps for truck drivers that fall asleep behind the wheel.
Sleep is not an excuse for most companies since ordinarily, they will have been understood to get the necessary rest period before they go out and do their job. Apparently, the growing number of mishaps have been a cause for alarm and using sleepiness as the main problem will have to be curved and justified.
Studies have shown truck drivers have a 20 to 30 percent incidence rate for obstructive sleep apnea, much high than individuals over 40.
(Source) My Fox
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Surgery Solutions for Sleep Apnea
0 Comments Published by Brian Yalung March 15th, 2008 in SLEEP News, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorders, Sleep Issues.
Turning to surgery when it comes to sleep apnea solutions may be the last thing on people’s minds. But in reality, surgery for people who have a serious problem with it is entirely necessary especially if everything like constant consultations and therapies to remedy it fails.
Kids rarely need surgery and once they do, the immediate understanding is that they can be cured immediately. Apparently this does not hold true at times and while it is the last recourse for curing sleep disorders, it may not always be the last and reliable solution.
Surgery may provide only short-term relief for some children with sleep-disordered breathing, say researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Adenotonsillectomy surgery is the first line of treatment for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children. It is the most common surgery performed upon children, the researchers noted.
(Source) Washington Post
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