To avoid the pain when we visit our dentist for possible tooth extractions or even root canals, we would normally be given anesthesia or sedatives so we can sleep through the pain. With that in mind, would we dare use it when we cannot sleep ourselves?

Of course, there is no pain involved in this case. Perhaps the only pain we may have in mind is the after-effect to which no sleep may result in probable health risk events.

But going back, Dex (Dexmedetomidine) has been found to be a natural way of putting patients to sleep for possible dental procedures. Makes you wonder if they can do the same for normal sleeping wants.

Then again, that would need medical clearance to which doctors are sure to evaluate you if and when it can be used as a natural sleep sedative outside dental procedures.

According to the bispectral index, which measures sedative state, patients remained in a sedative state even when they appeared to be clearly conscious. Thus, discontinuing the Dex infusion approximately 15 minutes before the end of the procedure is recommended to minimize recovery time.

It should also be noted that patients in this study were relatively young and healthy; higher doses and differences in age and health may affect the performance of Dex.

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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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