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Sleep apnea could lead to Hearing Loss?

Brian Yalung — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:07:12 +0000

Don’t look now but it seems that another area of concern tied up with the problem of sleep apnea seems to be that of deafness or hearing loss. The discovery was courtesy of a study from Japan, wherein sudden deafness was more likely traced to that of a previous diagnosis of sleep apnea.

Hence, it is advisable to have yourself checked for sleep apnea just in case you incur such sudden hearing losses. The bad part about it is on determining if sleep apnea treatment can also address the deafness issue.

It may be possible that sleep apnea, which is known to increase the buildup of plaque in blood vessels, could affect vessels in areas of the brain that control hearing, or vessels that feed the nerves responsible for hearing.

But it looks like the study needs more evidence to support the claim. Just the same, it would be best to go to a specialist to determine if deafness and sleep apnea are indeed tied up.

Via

Insomnia Affects Quality Worker Output

Brian Yalung — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:12:24 +0000

It is important to get good sleep for a large chunk of the workers of Canada and apparently one can identify just how much of them are suffering from sleep disorders like insomnia. Work output is gravely affected, costing the Canadian economy millions of dollars from lackadaisical output and it seems that unless such an issue is addressed, these losses will evidently show in the operating performance figures of most businesses situated there today.

Direct costs included $191.2 million for doctors’ visits, $36.6 million for transportation to and from these visits, $16.5 million for prescription drugs, $1.8 million for over-the-counter remedies, and a whopping $339.8 million for alcohol used as a sleep aid.

Eight percent of individuals in the study, average age almost 44 and 60 percent female, reported having used alcohol to fall asleep, including 28 percent of those with insomnia symptoms or syndrome.

(Source) Washington Post