One of the most common health disorders among people around the world is “sleep apnea”. In its simplest sense ‘sleep apnea’ can be understood as one or more pauses in normal breathing. In many cases the shallow breathing during sleep is also termed as ‘sleep apnea’.

A pause in normal breathing during sleep may have an undefined duration. Meaning thereby, the pause could be for a few seconds only or it can even stretch up to few minutes.

Similarly, the rate of occurrence of such pauses during sleep may also vary up to great ranges. It could be five times per hour or even up to 30 times an hour. Normal breathing generally starts immediately after such a pause but this re-start could generate a snoring or choking sound as well.

Once a person is a victim of ‘sleep apnea’ this disorder converts in to a chronic disorder slowly over the years. In majority of the cases people never realize that the ‘sleep apnea disorder’ has crept in their lives. Read the rest of this entry

Sleep apnea is a dangerous problem that can lead to heart attacks, strokes, excessive daytime sleepiness, short-term memory loss and increases in motor vehicle accidents. It is essential to diagnose and treat sleep apnea. One study showed a 36% decrease in 8 year survival comparing treated and untreated sleep apnea.

A problem frequently experienced is that the cost of health, life and disability insurance policies can increase exponentially following diagnosis of sleep apnea. This is problematic for owners of small businesses and wealthy individuals who utilize life insurance to protect their estates. Read the rest of this entry

Disturbing forecasts have prompted the Aviisha Medical Institute, LLC to  release a free guide to sleep apnea. A new study published in the Lancet  predicts that by 2030, 164 million Americans will suffer from obesity.

Given  obesity’s high correlation with sleep apnea, experts are beginning to brace for  an obesity-sleep apnea epidemic of epic proportions.

Current estimates predict that 1 in every 5 Americans suffers from mild sleep  apnea and 1 in every 15 from moderate sleep apnea or worse. These numbers are  expected to climb in coming years, and yet most sleep apnea sufferers have no  idea they have the condition.

“Studies estimate that between 80 and 90% of sufferers are undiagnosed and  need treatment,” said Dr. Avi Ishaaya, a sleep boarded physician and Medical  Director of the Aviisha Medical Institute, LLC.

“This is a serious problem when  you consider how untreated sleep apnea can devastate the cardiovascular system  and damage a person’s quality of life.” Sleep apnea has been linked to stroke,  heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, depression, erectile dysfunction, memory  loss, and more. Read the rest of this entry

Sleep apnea is a deadly sleep disorder.The overall effects of sleep apnea are more cumulative in nature and could kill a person being in association with other several disorders and diseases.

In the case of sleep apnea, which is cessation of breathing while sleeping, it can lead to high blood pressure and heart failure, stroke, diabetes, sexual dysfunction; and because it promotes a dangerous lack of good sleep, it also is being blamed for many traffic fatalities in this country brought about by drowsy drivers.

Former NFL players  like Aaron Taylor, a big former Chargers offensive lineman, and Rolf Benirschke, a thin former Chargers kicker, both have suffered from sleep apnea. Both of these NFL stars are contributing towards awareness of sleep apnea among masses.They are doing it through education, because the way to beat this thing is to go to bed wearing masks attached to positive airway pressure devices. Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/ [  Press Release  ]/ Versailles, Ohio /October 17, 2011/ Sleep Apnea: A Growing Health Concern According to the National Institute  of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, an estimated 18 million Americans have  sleep apnea. However, few of them have had the problem diagnosed.

Sleep apnea is the repeated interruption of normal breathing during sleep.  Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of breathing-related sleep disorder. In patients with OSA, the airway collapses, temporarily restricting  airflow to the lungs. This partial airway obstruction causes the upper airway  tissue to vibrate and produce the sound of the classic snore.

As OSA develops, it has a cumulative effect, meaning that the longer the  disease goes untreated, the greater the negative side effects and associated  health risks. According to numerous  research studies, if sleep apnea remains untreated, other health conditions  may emerge or current health problems may worsen, including: Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/ [Press release ]/ DETROIT /– Detroit Medical Center has been selected as the first Detroit area hospital to participate in a pivotal clinical study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new therapy for patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The STAR trial (Stimulation Therapy for Apnea Reduction) will be conducted at leading medical centers across the United States and Europe, and will evaluate the efficacy of Inspire™ Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) therapy, an implantable therapy that works with the body’s natural physiology to prevent airway obstruction during sleep. More than 18 million Americans suffer from OSA, which is characterized by repeated episodes of upper airway collapse during sleep. Patients with OSA stop breathing frequently during sleep, often for a minute or longer. Daytime sleepiness, depression, weight gain, increase in industrial accidents and diminished quality of life are all commonly observed in people who suffer from OSA as a result of fragmented sleep patterns.  Furthermore, OSA is associated with the development of systemic hypertension, cardiovascular diseases (heart failure, heart rhythm disorders), stroke, and diabetes. Read the rest of this entry

The diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders have come a long way in recent years. In the past, people who snored might be advised to sew a tennis ball onto the back of their pajama top. The “snore ball” would discourage them from sleeping on their back and might quiet their droning. Or a doctor might use the “dog index” to measure poor sleep: If your dog generally sleeps with you but by morning has left the bed more than half the time, it may be because you’re such a loud, restless sleeper that the dog has gone elsewhere for some peace and quiet.

How things have changed. Now, doctors with special training diagnose and treat more than 80 sleep disorders – from obstructive sleep apnea to narcolepsy – at special centers with labs where a patient’s every sleeping moment may be recorded and measured. Read the rest of this entry

Impaired brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is associated with risk for subsequent cardiovascular events in patients after myocardial infarction (MI). These patients often have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We tested the hypothesis that patients with OSA post MI will exhibit more severe impairment in FMD.

Conditions such as diabetes,  sleep apnea and depression that are well-controlled are “not a terrible risk,”  and people can get life insurance at reasonable rates.

It would be a good idea to shop around if you have a health  condition that makes getting life insurance a challenge.  Insurers have all  developed their own underwriting guidelines, and some are able to offer better  rates for applicants with certain medical conditions.

Guaranteed life insurance is another option if  you’re looking for coverage with no health questions asked and no physicals  required. But the amount of coverage offered is usually quite limited, the  premium will be very high, and if you die within the first year or two, your  loved ones will likely receive only the premiums you’ve paid and any interest  earned. Read the rest of this entry

Childhood obesity in North Carolina is at 33.5% according to the  National Conference of State Legislatures. Raleigh  weight loss problems mount as the state will pay $2.138 billion in annual  medical costs of obesity.

One in three children are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity has  increased over 300% in the past 30 years according to the CDC (Center for  Disease Control). Obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5%  in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. Obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years  increased from 5.0% to 18.1% during the same time period.

The risk factors for obesity in children and adolescents are cardiovascular  disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure. To make matters worse, they are  at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea and poor self-esteem.  Overweight and obese children are more likely to be overweight or obese in their  adult years. This increases their chances of developing heart disease, type 2  diabetes, stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis.

Knowing these facts; would one ever say to your overweight or obese child,  Sweetie, let’s go get some cheeseburgers, fries and a milk shake so later in  life it can result in a heart attack.

Men with erectile dysfunction (ED) should be tested for the presence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to researchers here at the American Urological Association (AUA) 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting.

The findings are from a study that examined the link between ED and OSA in 870 middle-aged men who were consecutively enrolled in the ongoing Law Enforcement Cardiac Screening Program, which is part of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program.

“The study is the largest to date to demonstrate an independent association between ED and OSA after controlling for known cardiovascular risk factors,” principal investigator Boback Berookhim, MD, MBA, urology resident at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, said. Read the rest of this entry

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 45 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, a disorder that causes a person to briefly and repeatedly stop breathing during sleep. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a debilitating, often life-threatening sleep disorder an estimated 800 thousand patients are being diagnosed with OSA per year in the USA and approximately 10% being treated.According to Jim Boyle a Registered Respiratory Therapist and Sleep Disorder Specialist with 20 years clinical experience has treated hundreds of OSA suffers and is the genesis behind NuLungs.com. People with untreated sleep apnea are more likely to have a heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure and Type II diabetes. Boyle founded the Company to offer a convenient and cost effective alternative to diagnosing and treating sleep apnea patients. Read the rest of this entry

A new computer screening tool developed and patented by a UB physician is helping to detect severe obstructive sleep apnea in cardiovascular patients who have not yet been diagnosed with this common and potentially dangerous condition.

The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, is being conducted by a UB researcher at the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System.

The goal is to evaluate how well the computer screening tool developed at UB diagnoses sleep apnea in patients with heart disease, compared to an overnight sleep study, or polysomnography, considered the ‘gold standard’ for diagnosing sleep apnea.

“The importance of this grant is that it may give us a faster way to screen for sleep apnea in patients who are already at high risk but who are undiagnosed,” says principal investigator Ali A. El Solh, professor of medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and professor of social and preventive medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions. Read the rest of this entry

SeptRx,an emerging medical device company that is developing the SeptRx® Intrapocket PFO Occluder (IPO)—a platform for the percutaneous transcatheter closure of a heart defect known as patent foramen ovale (PFO)—announced today that the company has received $2.7 million in a ‘Series A’ financing led by NDC (Nitinol Devices & Components) Inc. The cash infusion is intended to “carry us through CE mark registration,” said Scott Russell, President and CEO of SeptRx.

The SeptRx® Intrapocket PFO Occluder has already completed a successful 11-patient first-in-human (FIH) clinical trial. SeptRx’s FIH trial was the first and only PFO device trial to demonstrate 100% closure and 100% safety (out to 3 years). A larger European clinical trial is nearly underway: InterSEPT (In-tunnel SeptRx European PFO Trial), from which data will be used to apply for CE marking. The trial will be conducted at two investigation sites: Frankfurt, Germany, and Massy,France. Read the rest of this entry