A recently concluded research study published in the April 1 issue of the journal SLEEP indicates that overall risk of death is more than two times higher in older adults who have sleep apnea and report struggling with excessive daytime sleepiness.

Results of adjusted proportional hazards modeling show that older adults with moderate to severe sleep apnea who reported struggling with excessive daytime sleepiness at baseline were more than twice as likely to die (hazard ratio = 2.28) as subjects who had neither problem.  The risk of death was insignificant in older adults with only excessive daytime sleepiness (HR = 1.11) or sleep apnea (HR = 0.74).

Participants had a mean age of 78 years at baseline, and about 55 percent (n = 160) died during an average follow-up period of 14 years.

“Excessive daytime sleepiness, when associated with sleep apnea, can significantly increase the risk of death in older adults,” said principal investigator and lead author Dr. Nalaka S. Gooneratne, assistant professor of medicine in the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, Pa.  “We did not find that being sleepy in and of itself was a risk.  Instead, the risk of increased mortality only seemed to occur when sleep apnea was also present.” Read the rest of this entry

A new study finds that a significant number of patients  with benign prostate enlargement (BPE) may have obstructive sleep apnea  (OSA), which may be the reason for their night awakenings and urination.  The study’s findings have been published in the Journal of the American  Board of Family Medicine.

The researchers, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU),  Israel, compared men between the ages of 55 and 75 who were randomly  sampled from primary clinics, diagnosed with BPE, and reported nocturia (or waking during the night to void) at least once nightly. The  comparison group had no BPE and one or no nocturia episodes per night.  Nocturia is a common BPE symptom.

The researchers found that more than half (57.8%) of patients with  enlarged prostates may in fact have the sleep disorder, and that the  awakenings that patients ascribed to their need to urinate at night may  be actually caused by their sleep disorders. Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/[ Press Release ]/OKLAHOMA CITY/ Graymark Healthcare, Inc. , the nation’s second largest provider of diagnostic sleep services and an innovator in comprehensive care for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), reported financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.

Net revenues in 2010 increased 30% to $22.8 million from $17.6 million in 2009 (as adjusted for the discontinued operations of the company’s retail pharmacy business). The annual increase is primarily attributable to realizing a full year of operating revenue amounting to $6.7 million from the Somni and Eastern acquisitions completed in August and September of 2009, respectively. Read the rest of this entry

The National Institutes of Health estimates one in 10 adults over 65 (a total of 18 million Americans) suffers from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a disorder in which obstruction in the upper airway can lead to interrupted breathing and sleep.

In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the tongue and other tissues of the throat obstruct the airway during sleep, blocking breathing for sometimes up to a minute. These events can occur multiple times throughout the night and severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been linked with increased risks for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and accidents resulting from daytime drowsiness.

This spring, two UC researchers are collaborating in an international, multi-center trial on an investigational device for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Read the rest of this entry

“Snorers never get restful sleep,” says entrepreneur David Hernandez, “but neither do the people who love them. In fact, men are twice as likely to be snorers than women. That means it’s a constant ‘battle of the sexes’ every night – a nudge here, a poke there – but VitalSleep ends the war some wives get a good night’s rest.”

Hernandez went about creating the VitalSleep stop snoring device when his dentist prescribed a mouthpiece that allows more air to flow freely to stop snoring. The problem is the device came with a huge price tag of $3,000. He asked his doctor for a more economical solution, but there wasn’t one, so that’s when Hernandez went to work. Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/[ Press Release ]/ DALLAS, TX – /  Attorneys for The Snoring Center, the nationally renowned Dallas-based clinic for the treatment of snoring and sleep apnea, are noting that the Sereno Center for Snoring Solutions in San Francisco is no longer claiming to be the world’s largest provider of the Pillar Procedure or the first practice of its kind. Sereno also has altered its website and advertisements to remove claims of being the world’s first exclusive provider of clinical treatments for snoring, sleep apnea and related disorders.

The Snoring Center filed a federal lawsuit against Sereno in November 2010 based on allegations that the company’s owners fraudulently obtained The Snoring Center’s proprietary information and made false advertising statements to promote its clinical practice. Read the rest of this entry

Snoring is a common sign of sleep apnea, a disorder that increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease? Sleep apnea is the most common sleep disorder, affecting nearly 20 million Americans.

To address this problem, Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital is expanding services for diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea and other sleep disorders. Last month, the IU Health Ball Memorial Sleep Disorders Center moved to 6004 Kilgore Ave. This new facility offers convenient parking and entry, new equipment, an innovative diagnostic computer system, and twice as many beds (an increase from six to 12) for diagnostic testing.

After being referred by their physicians, patients are asked to spend a night in one of the Sleep Disorders Center’s 12 rooms designed for optimal sleep comfort. Read the rest of this entry

A new sleep medicine practice, Sleep HealthCare of Connecticut, is providing the latest treatments for insomnia, sleep apnea and other sleep disorders that can seriously harm overall health.

Sleep HealthCare of Connecticut was founded by three health professionals in the field — A. Joel Papowitz, M.D., Medical Director; Edward B. O’Malley, PhD, Managing Director; and Derek Guice, RPsgT Technical Director.

The practice offers techniques, including neurofeedback — to promote natural, drug-free sleep – in a comfortable, spa-like setting. It departs from the traditional approach to treating sleep disorders, recognizing that they are chronic — rather than acute — problems that require longer term management. Read the rest of this entry

There are two ways that they people are snoring due to the fact some snoring is maded by the throat and the additional by the nose. It’s useful to find out the method that you are snoring which is a thing that perhaps your partner could say. It’s beneficial to understand to enable you to properly handle the situation. There are plenty of remedies, cures that will help us stop snoring. A lot of them are working several aren’t and it depends upon each person and the way they respond.

Beside all these remedies addititionally there is surgery. At present you can make a little surgery that are said to cure the snoring permanently. the matter that I believe will make me in favor for the surgery is the fact the surgery will last for maximum one hour and next you can relax since besides you will not be snoring but you will not have to take into account all of the gadgets that you simply want to utilize, on which side about the bed you have to sleep and in that situation. Read the rest of this entry

The disaster in Japan has the world’s attention. Millions of people watch in horror as the people of Japan struggle to get through day by day. Japan suffered a 1-2-3 punch in the events of an earthquake, then a tsunami, and finally nuclear radiation worries. Many different teams of rescuers have been sent over to Japan to aid in the search and rescue efforts. These teams have been tasked with the responsibility to search for both survivors and bodies in various towns and villages along the east coast of Japan. What has become an almost requirement for these teams are tools that are both portable and easy to use. 

Hundreds of  Pulse Oximeters have been donated by many manufacturers and serving companies to Japan .for the emergency responders. The pulse oximeter, is a portable device used to measure the blood oxygen saturation and pulse rate of individuals. These pulse oximeters are not your old traditional tabletop units, but rather fingertip units which are smaller than your average mobile phone. A fingertip pulse oximeter operates on standard AA batteries, and provides its readings of blood oxygen saturation and pulse rate within seconds. Read the rest of this entry

About 35 percent of people who snore loudly while sleeping may suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA ), according to a survey recently released by Philips and the Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine.

The survey also found 80 percent of people who might have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA ) often feel tired and exhausted even after sleeping all night.

Meanwhile, some 30 percent who might have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA ),have dozed off while driving or riding motorcycle, the study showed.

At the same time, about 70 percent who might have  obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) think their snoring bothers other people.

Philips and the Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine commissioned a health-related Web portal to conduct the survey by having 1,565 netizens fill out the so-called Berlin Questionnaire to help them better understand their sleep quality. Read the rest of this entry

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “India Patient Monitoring and Diagnostic Systems Market Opportunity and Growth Trend Forecast till 2016” report to their offering.

The Market Intelligence report provides critical market data for India patient monitoring and diagnostics market and its product categories. The data includes market size in terms of value and volume; average selling price for each product type, growth trends and market shares of companies at sector and category level. It’s vital cross category comparison and cross sub-category comparison section makes analysis very handy for company professionals. The report helps professionals in mapping market size, competition, understanding historic and future growth trends. It covers important categories such as blood pressure monitors, cardiovascular monitoring systems, blood glucose monitoring devices, hearing diagnostics, micro-electromechanical systems multiparameter patient monitors, remote monitoring systems, sleep apnea diagnostic systems and wireless hospital ambulatory monitors. Market Size: Market size in terms of value ($) and volume (units), for each level of segmentation from 2005 to 2010 and forecast till 2016.

Watermark Medical, Boca Raton, Fla, is launching WM SleepCare, a comprehensive sleep  benefits management program. The Web-based program offers insurance  providers and self-insured employer groups an “end-to-end” program to  manage patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that includes  utilization oversight and compliance management.

“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made it  possible for insurance providers to offer home sleep testing. We quickly  recognized the opportunity to build a sleep benefits management program  with tight controls and utilization oversight, something the insurance  industry is rapidly embracing,” said Sean Heyniger, chief executive  officer of Watermark Medical.

According to Watermark Medical, the system utilizes the company’s  cloud-based platform that improves workflow, integrates therapy  alternatives, and reduces the cost of health care delivery.

“We are transforming the entire industry to a more streamlined and  cost-effective solution, while improving patient care,” said Charlie  Alvarez, president of Watermark Medical.

“Complex sleep apnea is, in some respects, a mix of obstructive and central sleep apnea, and is probably the least common of the sleep breathing disorders”, says Dr. Dennis Auckley, director, MetroHealth’s Center for Sleep Medicine, associate professor, Case Western Reserve University.

According to Dr. Dennis Auckley, this condition is defined based on certain characteristics of a person’s sleep during a sleep study. In complex sleep apnea, there is a diagnosis of OSA during monitored sleep, but then the patient develops a central sleep apnea pattern. In other words, the CPAP is effective at keeping the airway open, but the brain fails to send the signal to breathe.

“The significance of having complex sleep apnea is not entirely clear. It is not known if this represents a different type of sleep apnea or something we see on a single night sleep study that resolves over time” says Dr. Dennis Auckley. Some patients with this condition can be controlled with CPAP, others with bi-level pressure support, and some need the newer type of device called adaptive servo ventilation. Oxygen is not considered a treatment for this condition as it is generally not a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, he adds.

A new report from the American Thoracic Society (ATS), published in the Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society,  identifies barriers preventing incorporation of portable monitor testing into clinical management pathways and recommends research and  development needed to address those barriers. It summarizes the  recommendations of an international workshop sponsored by the ATS, AASM,  the American College of Chest Physicians, and the European Respiratory  Society.

“The consensus of the workshop participants was that outcomes-based  research studies are needed to demonstrate the efficacy and  cost-effectiveness of portable monitor testing,” said Samuel Kuna, MD,  associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and  chief of the Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Section at  Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and chair of the  workshop’s steering committee. “There is also a need to develop clinical  sleep research networks capable of performing large, prospective  studies.”

Recommendations were developed regarding research study design and  methodology that include the need to standardize technology, identify  the patients most appropriate for ambulatory management of obstructive  sleep apnea, ensure patient safety, and identify sources of research  funding. Read the rest of this entry