SleepApneaDisorder/[ Press Release ]/ SAN DIEGO, May 24, 2011 /- ResMed today released the ResMed Sleep Assessment app, a novel new app for iPhone that lets users record themselves during sleep. The app also includes a clinically validated questionnaire that assesses their risk and other helpful features to empower users to discuss their sleep health with their physician.

Excessive tiredness may be due to sleep apnea

Feeling excessively tired or fatigued is often the result of disrupted, unhealthy sleep. Numerous factors can lead to poor quality sleep, some of which have significant negative health effects. One possible cause of fatigue is sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder. People with sleep apnea report feeling like they’re living in a fog, and that no matter how much they sleep they still feel exhausted.

Sleep apnea is a serious health condition in which a person stops breathing temporarily during sleep. After several seconds, the brain triggers a wake-up response, causing the person to awaken gasping. These events may happen hundreds of times per night, though the sleeper usually won’t remember waking up. Often a spouse or partner will notice that the person snores loudly during sleep.

Sleep apnea affects approximately one in five U.S. adults, although it is estimated that as many as 80% of sleep apnea sufferers are undiagnosed and untreated. A known cause of hypertension, untreated sleep apnea has also been linked with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression and stroke. Read the rest of this entry

A study in the journal Heart Rhythm has found that patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators who had sleep-disordered breathing were at significantly higher risk for ventricular arrhythmias compared vs. those without sleep-disordered breathing.

The prospective study involved 45 patients with an ICD who were enrolled from August 2007 to March 2009. Twenty-six of these patients had sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), defined as an apnea-hypopnea index of morethan 10 events per hour as determined by an overnight sleep study. The current study’s primary endpoint was appropriate ICD therapy during a 1-year follow-up.

During this time, 62% of patients had one or more episodes of ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. Read the rest of this entry

May is the month known as “better sleep month”.  Undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea is causing needless suffering, according to Brian Marks, who is director of cardiopulmonary services and the Hillside Hospital Sleep Medicine Center.  The Sleep Medicine Center has two sleep labs available for sleep studies and each clones a regular bedroom atmosphere.   One of the goals of the staff is to educate the community about sleep apnea and other sleep disorders.

“Serious sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, impact significant numbers of people,” he said.  “And, even more importantly, many people are unaware of the symptoms, risk factors for, or serious complications that can result from untreated sleep disorders.”

According to Marks, many patients are misdiagnosed with depression who are actually suffering from the long-term effects of untreated sleep apnea.  As many as twenty-five percent of people who have high blood pressure have sleep apnea and patients with untreated sleep apnea are at increased risk for initial and recurrent heart attacks.

“Physicians have a high clinical suspicion about sleep apnea if they are treating a patient who is overweight, has high blood pressure, is fatigued, and is experiencing a decreasing ability to concentrate.  Ordering a sleep evaluation should be considered.  And, most certainly, anyone with an underlying history of heart disease should be evaluated for sleep apnea as it significantly increases the risk of a recurrent heart attack.”

“Sleep apnea is a very treatable disease, and patients see such tremendous benefits in their quality of life.  The clinical benefits include reduction of the risk of heart attack and relief in symptoms.”

For more information, or a brochure regarding the Hillside Hospital Sleep Medicine Center, call Brian Marks at 424-4580.

Combat troops in Afghanistan suffer from high rates of sleep deprivation. Only about 10 percent of soldiers and 15 percent of Marines reported sleep problems over a 30-day period because of combat stress. And another potential culprit – video gaming and movie watching – accounted for less than 5 percent of reported sleep problems.

Respondents overwhelmingly said night patrols coupled with hot, loud daytime sleeping environments were the biggest sources of trouble. Nearly half of Marines surveyed cited those factors, and about 30 percent of soldiers.

Overall, the report based on a survey of more than 1,200 soldiers and Marines in 2010 showed morale plummeting while exposure to combat violence surged to new heights.Previous mental health surveys show soldiers and Marines are chronically sleep deprived and get far less than the recommended seven hours a night, said Army Medical Command psychologist Col. Paul Bliese.

The Army, meanwhile, has begun a study to determine just how much soldiers really are sleeping because.[  Read Complete Post By Chris Carroll at Stars and Stripes ... ]

Researchers in Michigan have found that removing a kid’s tonsils and adenoids, he is less likely to wet the bed. 

According to US News & World Report, kids with enlarged tonsils and adenoids are more likely to have sleep apnea (interruptions in breathing while sleeping), and kids with sleep apnea are more likely to bed their beds.

Researchers opine that it is always better to take away the tonsils and adenoids, and voila! You take away the bedwetting. Read the rest of this entry

Scientists say sleep deprivation also slows your metabolism down as well. Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden found that insomnia could encourage you to pile on the pounds by slowing down the rate at which the body burns calories.

Study leader Christian Benedict, said: ‘Our findings show that one night of sleep deprivation acutely reduces energy expenditure in healthy men, which suggests sleep contributes to the acute regulation of daytime energy expenditure in huma

Older studies have linked sleep deprivation with weight gain and also shown how disrupted sleep also disrupts levels of stress – and hunger-related hormones during waking hours. Read the rest of this entry

Obese, asthmatic, anxious or depressed children are more likely to experience excessive daytime sleepiness, or EDS, according to Penn State College of Medicine sleep researchers.

“Although excessive daytime sleepiness in children is commonly assumed by physicians and the public to be the result of sleep-disordered breathing or inadequate sleep, our data suggest that EDS in young children is more strongly associated with obesity and mood issues as it is in adults,” said Edward Bixler, professor of psychiatry and vice chair of research at the Sleep Research and Treatment Center.

Excessive daytime sleepiness is the inability to stay awake during the day, while sleep-disordered breathing is a group of disorders that includes sleep apnea, characterized by pauses in breathing. Read the rest of this entry

Removing enlarged tonsils and adenoids may help prevent high blood pressure and heart damage in children who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a study conducted at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. In some children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), adenotonsillectomy can result in significantly lower blood pressure within 24 months of the procedure.

The results will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver.

Children with enlarged tonsils and adenoids are particularly prone to developing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), said study lead author Lisa Burns, MD, (Pulmonary Fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center). And, in children and adults, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been linked with elevations in both daytime and nighttime blood pressure. obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can also interfere with the normal “dip” in blood pressure levels that occur during sleep. Persistent elevations in blood pressure can result in organ damage, including heart damage. Read the rest of this entry

A study presented today at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting suggests that sleep disturbances like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), excessive awakening and insomnia, may be a normal result of combat experience, rather than a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), major depression or other psychiatric conditions.

The retrospective study, which will be published this summer as “Sleep Disruption Among Returning Combat Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan” in the peer-reviewed journal Military Medicine, examined the electronic medical records of recently redeployed soldiers complaining of sleep disturbances. The purpose of the study was to uncover the relationship between common combat-related conditions among active duty military personnel and the frequency of a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA ) and other sleep problems. Read the rest of this entry

Childhood obesity in Ohio is at 33.3% according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Cincinnati weight loss problems mount as the state will pay $3.304 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. Read the rest of this entry

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a major but not universally present feature of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The latter has been associated with glucose dysmetabolism and insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to examine the role of EDS by investigating potential differences between somnolent and non-somnolent OSAS patients in glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, and levels of cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods Included were 25 newly diagnosed otherwise healthy OSAS patients, reporting EDS and 25 age- and BMI-matched, non-somnolent OSAS patients, who served as controls. Fasting glucose and insulin levels, as well as homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMAIR) index, levels of hs-CRP, and lipidemic profile were measured. Read the rest of this entry

At Western Psychiatric Institute, one of the top sleep research centers in the country, medical professionals are using sleep deprivation to help people with insomnia, a condition where the brain is hyper-aroused 24 hours a day.

“We shorten their time in bed and make the sleep more consolidated and deeper,” said the center’s Dr. Dan Buysse. “The obvious and deceptive answer is get more sleep, there is not a substitute for sleep.”

At Stat Medevac, where pilots work 12-hour shifts and paramedics and nurses can work up to 24 hours a day, getting enough Zs is part of the job. “It is very important that you sleep well at night. You don’t want to come into this job with three or four hours sleep,” said flight nurse Marion Jones. Read the rest of this entry

People are affected by all kinds of sleep disorders – some genetically based and some because of our jobs — and those disorders can affect not only your health, but also safety.

Several studies in recent years have linked a lack of sleep to depression, intestinal disorders and heart disease. While there is no proof that getting more sleep prevents these diseases, it is clear that a lack of sleep, and shift work, affect how some people do their jobs.

A recent string of high-profile stories involving air traffic controllers missing planes while asleep on the job highlighted the issue and served as a wake-up call for the airline industry.

In one case, an air ambulance trying to land in Nevada had to wait after getting no response from the dozing controller. The air ambulance eventually landed on its own.

One US Airways pilot who spoke to Wiggin — but asked not to be identified — said it happens more often than some people might realize. Read the rest of this entry

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