Surgeries however do not promise miracle cures. In fact, success rate of apnea surgeries is hardly higher than 65% often deteriorating over time. While a particular procedure may need 3 to 5 sessions for complete results, at times doctors may prefer to use a combination of several surgeries to achieve the desired goals.

The decision to do surgery is taken as soon as the condition is diagnosed correctly. It may seem strange, but this common disorder remains one of the most undiagnosed with equally high chances of being misdiagnosed. This happens because several of its features can be misconstrued as other sleep disorders. For example, excessive daytime sleepiness, a key symptom may appear to be narcolepsy, insomnia or even hypersomnia.

For correct diagnosis, doctors invariably rely on results from polysomnography as well as Multiple Sleep Latency Test, the procedure that measures daytime sleepiness. These tests not only reveal the type of illness but also the severity, which is truly the starting point of therapy selection.

For mild to moderate conditions of sleep apnea, doctors prescribe CPAP along with weight loss and lifestyle modifications. However, surgery is the last and only hope when the condition is serious as revealed by results of the diagnostic tests.

There is no dearth of choices in surgical procedures. However the choice of surgery depends on where the obstruction is located in the upper respiratory tract. The most common sites are within the nose, throat and base of the tongue.

The primary aim of apnea surgeries is to remove all obstructions from the upper respiratory tract to allow the patient to breathe normally. Some common options are:

-Nasal surgeries: These surgeries manage nasal blockage caused by three common anatomical problems within the nasal cavity, including deviated septum, turbinates and nasal valve. Repairing nasal valve, repositioning septal deviation and reducing size of enlarged turbinates can be accomplished by septoplasty, a minimally invasive option. Somnoplasty is one of the newer surgeries and the only option that uses radiofrequency ablation technology to reduce and tighten excess tissues in the tonsils, nasal passage, base of tongue and soft palate.

-UPPP or uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: the uppp surgery is one of the oldest and most common surgery it removes excess tissues from the soft palate and pharynx.

-Soft palate implants or the Pillar Procedure: This minimally invasive procedure is good for treating mild conditions. It involves implantation of three polyester rods in to the soft palate that stiffens the relevant tissues and keeps the airways open during sleep.

-A relatively simple surgery is tracheostomy that involves making an incision in the windpipe through the neck for air to enter directly into the lungs. These days this procedure is performed only for patients for who the condition is life-threatening.

-Some other sleep apnea surgery options include genioglossus (tongue advancement), hyoid bone advancement, maxillary or maxillomandibular advancement (MMA), etc. All these surgeries treat severe conditions as well as patients who find CPAP therapy incompatible.

Marc MacDonald is an independent sleep researcher on narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and hypersomnolence. For more of this article’s topic, see Marc Macdonald’s site to get the best guide on Sleep Apnea Surgery. Cheers for healthy days!

Sleep Apnea Surgery Options: Plenty to Choose From is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

Being overweight or obese, one of the preventable conditions that nearly two thirds of Americans suffer from is a major contributor to nearly every other major disease or affliction. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), being overweight increases the risk of “coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon), hypertension (high blood pressure), dyslipidemia, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis, and gynecological problems.” It has also been linked to depression.

People in America are dying every single day, in some part, due to their own misplaced priorities. Due to long-term ongoing health issues often related to being overweight or obese, people are leaving their loved ones behind with little or nothing remaining to pass on to friends and family. The high cost of medical care has been known to quickly wipe out a lifetime of savings and retirement income.

Many of those who have exhausted their savings blame health care costs. Even the cost of finding and maintaining health insurance keeps rising, but what can you expect when so many of our people are suffering from one disease or another.

America’s government believes that forcing every single person in the country to purchase health insurance is the answer, and many citizens agree. In today’s United States, we tend to seek to place blame on anything but ourselves. Few want to take aim at the true cause of high health care costs and alarming number of disease related deaths in the United States.

Obesity, in most cases, can be prevented with a little daily exercise and by paying a little attention to what you eat each day. It is not that difficult really, and there is nothing new about the concept of living a healthy lifestyle. Just decide to be healthy and start making healthy choices that support your decision.

People in America will most often use the excuse that they don’t have time to exercise, or it costs too much to eat healthy, but these same people won’t miss their favorite television show or that stop at the bar after work. They will spend thousands of dollars and countless hours to maintain the car in their driveway, the fishing boat, camp trailer or their lawn but to spend a few dollars and a few minutes on their fitness is inconceiveable. Posessions, have become more important than life.

Isn’t it time to get your priorities straight? It can be as simple as putting down that donut and trading it for an apple. Set aside the soda pop and grab a cool clear bottle of water, and get you butt up off the couch for a few minutes of cardio or strength training exercise. Even if it means jogging in place and doing a few crunches and pushups while you watch your favorite television show. Better still, find a home fitness program that offers a quick, but effective workout in the privacy of your own home. Isn’t your own life worth a few moments of your time?

Jim Ford is an Independent Team Beachbody Coach and offers people alternatives to expensive gym contracts through home fitness programsdesigned and supported by top fitness professionals. He also helps people learn how they can earn money with their own legitimate home business in the fitness industry. Check out one of his Team Beachbodywebsites today!

Cut Health Care Costs in America by Taking Personal Responsibility for Your Health and Implementing Basic Preventive Measures is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

As we wind down to the end of 2011 and prepare to jump into 2012, I would like to share with you a few of my successes and I would love to hear back from you about yours. Did you begin a home exercise program or start eating a little better?

It was less than 6 months ago that I became an Independent Team Beachbody Coach. Before I started as a coach I was borderline obese, suffered from sleep apnea, had to sleep with a mask on my face, and suffered routine pain from fibromyalgia. Not to mention the borderline diabetes, and high blood pressure. At 47 years old I was getting fat and tired and I had to make a change in my life.

Today, and I personally contribute it to Team Beachbody but have no scientific eveidence, I no longer suffer from sleep apnea and have discarded my CPAP machine. I no longer feel the pain that was once a constant companion with fibromyalgia, and I am thrilled to be able to be in a position where I can help others fight to reach their fitness goals. I am not saying that exercise is a “cure all”, but for most of us, a little exercise could go a long way.

Yes, I said fight to reach those goals. My personal fight to improve my health is ongoing. There is no magic pill. It takes dedication to yourself and your fitness plan to get where you want to be, but the rewards are exhilarating! The cool thing is that you don’t have to do it alone. That is why team Beachbody is here.

I will not lie to you; I am beginning to see some profit come from my small investment into the coach opportunity. It cost me a whopping $39.95 to get started, and continues to cost me an additional $14.95 each month to stick with it. The vitamins and nutritionals I purchase for my own use justify the $14.95 because of my 25% discount, and my purchases keep me listed as an “Active Coach”, but that is not why I signed up. I signed up as a coach because I want to help people and I believe that the programs and support system offered through Team Beachbody is the way to go.

It has worked for me, and it can possibly work for you too. I am not asking you to become a coach, but if you are interested, I can help you.

I am asking you to stick with your program, and if you are having problems with part of your program, modify it. If you don’t have a program then let me help you find one that will work for you.

I am asking that you dedicate yourself to improving your health and sticking with it is the way to get there. DO NOT EXPECT OVERNIGHT RESULTS!

Chances are that you are reading this because you made a decision to improve your life. It is now up to you to follow through. As an Independent team Beachbody Coach, I can help you, and I want to help you!

As an Independent Team Beachbody Coach, Jim Ford is ready to help you with your lifestyle changes. He can put you in touch with quality home fitness programs like RevAbs, P90X, Insanity, Slim In 6, and Turbo Fire. He can also show you how you can start your own legitimate business through the coach opportunity. Visit his site to see what he can do for you!

Team Beachbody Success Story? NO! Team Beachbody Ongoing Project? Yes! is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

The elusive nature of the symptoms make the condition go noticed and undiagnosed most of the time, despite its high prevalence. The room or bed partner becomes aware of the illness by the loud and persistent snoring that gets even worse when the patient is lying on his or her back. The snoring sound is interspersed by bouts of silence when the person seems to have stopped breathing. One such pause could last for about 10 seconds and if the condition is severe, there could be 5 to 30 such pauses in an hour.

Frequent tossing and turning coupled with repeated waking are other signs noticed by the person sharing the room or bed. Luckily, the patient soon gets to witness some signs of the onset of the disorder. These include excessive daytime sleepiness, quick and unexplained weight gain, mood shifts, depression, lack of sexual interest, difficult headaches, soreness of throat, etc.

Is early detection possible?

Many people who believe that they are high-risk individuals for being affected by this condition, video record their sleep to notice any abnormal behavior during the night. This, along with information and impressions gathered from the room partner can help in early detection of the signs.

How is the condition diagnosed?

The common disorder not only tends to remain undiagnosed but can also be misdiagnosed. This happens because many of its features are representative of other sleep disorders. For example, daytime sleepiness is one of the common hypersomnia symptoms. It could even be mistaken for narcolepsy or insomnia.

The two diagnostic procedures that are trusted for providing reliable information regarding the type of illness and the severity of the condition are polysomnography and Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), the procedure for measuring daytime sleepiness.

To avoid confusion between this condition and narcolepsy, let us examine what these conditions are all about. What is narcolepsy? It is a neurological disorder marked by excessive daytime sleepiness and daytime sleep attacks. On the other hand, sleep apnea is a breathing related sleep disorder. The cause of onset of narcolepsy is deficiency of hypocretin, a brain protein, resulting in the brain being unable to monitor the regular sleep-wake cycles.

Diagnosis of narcolepsy is done by interpreting the results of MSLT. Narcoleptics invariably fall asleep faster. In this regard, MSLT test of less than 10 minutes confirm hypersomnia.

Sleep apnea treatment

Choice of therapy depends on severity and cause of onset. For mild to moderate conditions, doctors rely on lifestyle changes, special sleep apnea exercises for toning and strengthening breathing muscles, mouth pieces along with CPAP for restoration of pause-free breathing.

However for managing more severe sleep apnea symptoms, doctors rely more on surgery. There are plenty of surgical options including uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) as well as removal of tonsils, adenoids, or excess tissue at the back of the throat or inside the nose.

Do you want to know more about sleep apnea symptoms, then visit Douglas Kidder’s extensive report on sleep apnea treatment.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms: For Early Diagnosis and Treatment Know What the Signs Are is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

It is one of the worst sleep disorders marked by pauses in breathing during sleep. It happens when the airways become narrower or blocked or has collapsed. Depending on the severity, an individual can experience 5 to 30 such pauses in an hour, where a single pause lasts for about 10 seconds or more.

Who are at risk?

- Being overweight

- The condition affects men more than women

- 50+ age group are at higher risk

- Over-the-limit alcohol consumption

- Snoring, left neglected

- Suffering from nasal blockage due to deviated nasal septum

- Shorter lower jaw in comparison to upper jaw

- Abnormalities in the shapes of palate or airway making them narrower or vulnerable to collapse

- Large neck circumference; enlarged tongue

What kind of sleep apnea symptoms should one expect?

Despite the high prevalence of this chronic sleep disorder, most of the time it remains undiagnosed. This is because most of the typical signs of this illness happen during sleep. It is usually the person sharing the same bed or room who receives the first alarm – loud and persistent snoring. The snoring sound gets louder during the night and is interspersed with sudden bouts of silence. The silence is soon followed by gasping and choking during sleep. The pattern is repeated several times during the night.

Snoring is caused when air tries to make its way through the blocked or collapsed breathing passage. Restlessness in bed, frequent waking etc are other signs noticed by the room or bed partner.

Several signs ultimately get noticed by the victim. These include excessive sleepiness during the day, rapid and unexplained weight gain, mood shifts, depression, forgetfulness, morning headaches, etc.

In this regard, it is interesting to note the special relationship shared by sleep apnea and weight. Though being overweight poses the highest risk of being affected with this ailment, gaining weight is both a symptom as well as an effect of the disorder.

How is the condition diagnosed and treated?

Sleep apnea not only remains undiagnosed but could be misdiagnosed as well. This is because of the confusing nature of some features. For example, excessive daytime sleepiness is common with most apnea patients since they are unable to sleep properly. But, the same feature appears as one of the hypersomnia symptoms; it could also mean the onset of narcolepsy, insomnia, etc.

Polysomnography and Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), a test that measures daytime sleepiness are the two most preferred procedures for diagnosing the condition as well as assess the severity. What is narcolepsy? It is a disorder caused by dysfunctional nervous system resulting in sudden daytime sleep attacks. Study of brain waves along with MSLT results can confirm narcolepsy, as narcoleptics tend to fall asleep faster.

Pauses in breathing along with reduced air flow confirm the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea. The severity is also revealed by relevant scoring, based on which treatment begins. CPAP and several lifestyle changes are recommended if the condition is mild to moderate. But surgery is the most preferred option if the condition is severe.

If you want to know more about sleep apnea symptoms, make sure to check Douglas Kidder’s site and get all the information you need about sleep apnea treatment.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Fundamentals is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

Caused by dysfunctional central nervous system, excessive daytime sleepiness followed by repeated daytime sleep attacks are the two hallmark signs of the disorder. Researchers are now finding links of onset to deficiency of a brain protein called hypocretin. However the reasons for its paucity are not yet known. Some researchers are of the opinion that it is a kind of autoimmune disorder. Genetic factors are largely responsible for the onset of this condition that sets in between 15 and 30 years of age and remains for life.

What are the typical signs?

- Feeling excessively sleepy during the day is its most significant feature. The individual would have several daytime sleep attacks, where each episode could last for about 15 minutes or more. They could happen at the most inappropriate times and places.

- Daytime naps are always rejuvenating for the patient.

- Hallucinations are vivid dreams or nightmares between sleep onset and wakefulness.

- Patient becomes unable to walk or talk on waking as well as during sleep onset. This is called sleep paralysis.

- Sudden loss of muscle tone, called cataplexy could happen that make the patient drop objects, etc.

Diagnosis

Many features of this illness give confusing signals. For example, daytime sleepiness is a sign of hypersomnia, insomnia, etc. It is also one of the sleep apnea symptoms; most apnea patients feel very sleepy during the day, after major sleep deprivation caused by nighttime breathing pauses.

Polysomnography along with Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) are normally performed to diagnose the type of sleep disorder as well as assess the severity of the condition. Genetic testing for narcolepsy genes could also be recommended by the treating doctor. The following readings confirm the type of sleep disorder:

- Frequent pauses in breathing as well as reduced airflow confirm sleep apnea. Based on the scores which confirm the severity, sleep apnea treatment is initiated.

- EEG that measures brain’s electrical activity and MSLT (measuring daytime sleepiness) test results can be used to confirm narcolepsy. People affected with this disorder usually falls asleep faster than people who are not suffering from this condition.

How is therapy initiated?

Narcolepsy does not respond to any kind of therapy. Therefore doctors merely try to reduce the severity of the symptoms by drugs, counseling, lifestyle changes, etc. Some examples are:

- No heavy meals at dinner time.

- Planned daytime naps

- Counseling of close friends and family, so that patient lives in a more understanding environment.

- Prescription medicines for narcolepsy treatment include stimulants like armodafinil and drugs that increase daytime alertness. These include dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine, DextroStat) and methylphenidate (Ritalin). Also prescribed are Selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) such as venlafaxine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine, paroxetine, or citalopram

Do you want to learn more about sleep apnea symptoms, then be sure to check Douglas Kidder’s excellent free report on sleep apnea treatment.

Narcolepsy Treatment: Why Over-Sleepiness Should Be Taken Seriously is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

Basics

This is because they could be signs that announce the onset of a chronic condition, for which there is no known cause. The most indicative sign of this illness is excessive daytime sleepiness and the preliminary symptoms are evident between adolescence and young adulthood. The sleepiness associated with this ailment is not the same as experienced after interrupted sleep or late nights, etc. There is a compelling need to sleep that result in the patient dozing off anytime anywhere. Despite several naps during the day, the patient still does not feel refreshed.

What are the characteristic features?

- Sleeping for long hours, often more than 10 hours.

- Waking up from sleep is a problem; feels confused and disoriented on waking.

- Anxiety, increasing irritability, low energy, feeling edgy all the time

- Impaired thinking, slur in speech.

- Reduced appetite, hallucinations, forgetfulness

- Inability to function in social settings.

What are the possible causes for the onset?

The cause of onset is not known since the condition is idiopathic. Doctors approach the problem by looking at possible triggers that cause daytime drowsiness. Incidentally, this is a common feature with several sleep disorders like narcolepsy, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, etc.

Other factors that are considered important are dysfunctional autonomic nervous system, drug/alcohol abuse, physical injuries like head trauma, injury to central nervous system, etc. Intake or withdrawal of certain medicines could also be responsible. Additionally, some health conditions like multiple sclerosis, depression, encephalitis, epilepsy, or obesity could provide relevant triggers.

Known for misleading signs

Most people not only ignore the initial signs but the condition may also be misdiagnosed. This happens mainly due to the most important feature of the illness, excessive daytime sleepiness appearing as a symptom in many sleep disorders. It could be one of the sleep apnea symptoms, or mean the onset of narcolepsy or insomnia. This can create immense diagnostic confusion.

What does a comparative analysis of the different features of these illness look like?

- The daytime drowsiness related to hypersomnolence is not due to narcolepsy, since this disorder is marked by sudden sleep attacks. Patients affected by hypersomnia never falls asleep suddenly nor experience cataplexy, which is sudden loss of muscle tone.

- Narcoleptics experience refreshing daytime naps; this is not so with any other sleep disorder.

- While treating this disorder, patients are asked to allow more time in their schedules for sleep than most people. On the other hand, narcolepsy treatment includes family counseling and stimulants that enhance daytime alertness.

- Polysomnography and Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) are diagnostic procedures to identify the nature of sleep disorder.

- Sleep apnea is confirmed when the results show pauses in breathing and reduced airflow.

- Brain wave study and results of MSLT can ably diagnose narcolepsy. These patients invariably fall asleep faster.

- MSLT test of less than 10 minutes confirm hypersomnia symptoms.

For more information about sleep apnea symptoms, feel free to visit Douglas Kidder’s site and get an update about the latest sleep apnea treatment.

Hypersomnia Symptoms: Ignored Most of the Time is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

Under the circumstances, it is usually the person sharing the same bed or room who comes to the rescue. He or she notices the first signs and calls for help. One of the most significant signs of this disorder is loud and persistent snoring which gets noticed first. There are intermittent pauses in the snoring followed by gasping and choking during sleep.

As the bed partner notices, the snoring gets worse when the patient is lying on his or her back. With time, many of the signs come to the notice of the patient. These include excessive daytime sleepiness, rapid and unexplained weight gain, morning headaches, forgetfulness, concentration problems, irritability, depression, mood swings or personality changes, need for frequent urination at night, etc.

Why does the condition happen?

One of the prime causes for the onset of the condition is obesity. Extra fat accumulated makes the air pipes narrow, restricting normal air flow during breathing. Obesity also impacts the breathing muscles (soft palate, throat, neck, tongue) making them fat, weak and flaccid. They become prone to collapse and block the air passage during sleep.

The ominous link

The relationship between the condition and body weight is critical. Though obesity triggers the onset, weight gain becomes part of the spread of the disorder and appears both as a symptom as well as one of the consequences of the disorder. Aim before initiating any therapy is to break this dangerous nexus between sleep apnea and weight gain, or else, no treatment can be expected to be effective. Thus losing weight is usually the first recommendation from any doctor treating the condition.

Apart from obesity, the condition may be triggered by nasal blockage. Deviated nasal septum is a common cause of blockage of normal nasal airflow. When the air passage is partially or fully blocked, it results in snoring, which when neglected worsens into sleep apnea.

What about diagnosis and treatment?

While 5 to 10% of the US population is affected by obstructive sleep apnea, only 10% have been screened for diagnosis. Not only remaining undiagnosed, but the condition can also be misdiagnosed. This happens because several features of this illness could also represent other sleep disorders.

A prominent sign of this illness, excessive daytime sleepiness is also representative of narcolepsy, hypersomnia, insomnia, etc. Polysomnography, a lab-based diagnostic procedure along with Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) are recommended by doctors for ensuring correct diagnosis of the disorder as well as for assessing the severity of the condition. MSLT is used to measure daytime sleepiness.

What is narcolepsy? Sudden sleep attacks and frequent daytime naps mark the onset of this disorder. MSLT results are used for diagnosing this disorder as well as hypersomnolence. Narcoleptics usually take very little time to fall asleep; sleep usually comes gradually for other illnesses.

Sleep apnea treatment is based on the results of the polysomnogram. In case the test confirms the condition and the scores signify the severity, treatments can be initiated. CPAP, lifestyle modifications are recommended when the sleep apnea symptoms range between mild and moderate. However for more severe cases, surgery might be the best option.

Do you want to learn more about sleep apnea symptoms, then be sure to check Douglas Kidder’s site and get all the information you need about sleep apnea treatment.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms: Noticing Them Is Tough but Not Impossible is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

There is a reason for such ignorance. Not many know what hypersomnia is all about, how it sets in and what kind of effects the illness might have. Termed as a ‘rare disease’ by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it affects 1 in 2000 people in the US.

What is this disorder all about?

Excessive daytime sleepiness is the most identifying feature of this chronic disorder. It results in the patient going off to sleep at the most inappropriate times and places. The irrepressible need to sleep experienced in this illness is very different from the kind experienced after exhaustion, late nights, etc.

Setting in between 15 and 30 years of age, it remains for life and does not respond to therapy as per expectations.

There is no known cause for the onset since it is by far an idiopathic condition. This means all therapies aimed at reducing the intensity of the features merely provide symptomatic relief.

What are the other signs for quick identification?

Keep a close watch on signs like these:

- Usually sleeping for long hours, at times more than 10 hours.

- Habit of daytime snoozing lasts for more than a month.

- Naps during the day usually last for about half hour but such naps are never rejuvenating.

- Irritability, anxiety, depression, speech problems and slow thinking are other signs.

- Confusion and disorientation on waking

- Feels lethargic with reduced vitality

- Reduced appetite, hallucinations, memory problems, and restlessness.

How quickly can the condition be diagnosed?

There is every possibility for this condition to be misdiagnosed, since some features of this illness match with that of other sleep disorders. For example, over-sleepiness during the day can mean the onset of obstructive sleep apnea or narcolepsy.

How to clear such confusion?

Diagnostic confusion can be cleared in two ways. The first option is to go by what the results of sleep apnea test show. Such a test not only informs regarding the severity of the condition but also correctly diagnoses the type of illness.

The second option is to scan through the characteristic features of other sleep disorders like cause and age of onset, treatment modalities, etc.

Sleep apnea treatment involves using devices or even surgery depending on the severity. Narcolepsy treatment on the other hand involves using nerve stimulants and antidepressants.

Sleep apnea sets in around 50 years of age; other illnesses set in earlier. What causes the sleep disorders? While some disorder may be caused when there is a complete collapse and blockage of the upper respiratory tract, another may be caused by the brain’s inability to monitor regular sleep-wake cycles because of dysfunctional central nervous system. As far as the causes behind the onset of hypersomnia symptoms are concerned, they remain unknown because the condition is idiopathic.

For more information about sleep apnea symptoms, then feel free to visit Douglas Kidder’s site and find out everything you want to know about sleep apnea treatment.

Hypersomnia Symptoms: Debilitating and Dangerous is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring

The first signs are noticed by the person sharing the same bed or room. One of the first signals of the disorder setting in is loud and persistent snoring. What alarms most witnesses is intermittent pauses in breathing, coupled with frequent gasping and choking during sleep.

As the bed partner notices, the snoring gets worse when the patient is lying on his or her back. With time, many of the signs come to the notice of the patient. These include excessive daytime sleepiness, rapid and unexplained weight gain, morning headaches, forgetfulness, concentration problems, irritability, depression, mood swings or personality changes, need for frequent urination at night, etc.

What exactly causes the onset?

Being overweight is one of the major causes for the onset of the condition. Air pipes become narrower with extra fat accumulation that hinders normal airflow during breathing. Additionally, the breathing muscles (tongue, throat, neck, soft palate, etc) also get affected by obesity. This makes them weak and flaccid, liable to collapse and block the airway during breathing, while the individual is asleep.

The all important nexus

Body weight is closely linked with onset and development of sleep apnea. While obesity helps in the onset, weight gain, during the course of the illness, becomes both a symptom as well as a consequence of the disorder. Unless the link between sleep apnea and weight gain is broken, no treatment can be effective. Weight loss is therefore the first recommendation from doctors treating the condition.

Nasal blockage caused by anatomical defects like deviated nasal septum can also trigger the onset. Partial or complete blockage of the nasal passage due to septal deviation can hinder normal flow of air and cause snoring, which when neglected worsens into sleep apnea.

What about diagnosis and treatment?

There has to be some good reasons behind this appalling statistical information: in the US, 5 to 10% of adults suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, of which only 10% have been screened for diagnosis. The disorder not only remains undiagnosed but there are high chances of it being misdiagnosed as well. This is because many features are representative of other sleep disorders creating diagnostic confusion.

For example, excessive daytime sleepiness is an indicator of several illnesses including narcolepsy, hypersomnia, insomnia, etc. For ensuring correct diagnosis doctors recommend certain lab-based diagnostic tests like polysomnography, Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), etc. These tests diagnose the type of illness, the severity as well as measure the degree of daytime sleepiness.

What is narcolepsy? It is a disorder characterized by sudden sleep attacks and frequent daytime naps. MSLT results are helpful in diagnosing this disorder as well as hypersomnolence. When the time taken to fall asleep is quicker than normal, the condition is narcolepsy.

Sleep apnea treatment is based on the results of the polysomnogram. In case the test confirms the condition and the scores signify the severity, treatments can be initiated. CPAP, lifestyle modifications are recommended when the sleep apnea symptoms range between mild and moderate. However for more severe cases, surgery might be the best option.

If you want more information about sleep apnea symptoms, then feel free to visit Douglas Kidder’s site and find out everything you want to know about sleep apnea treatment.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms: Noticing Them Is Tough but Not Impossible is a post from: 1 Stop Snoring