SleepApneaDisorder/(Press Release)/New York, NY ,January 19, 2011 / Dr. Farhad Hakimi announces today that from his 12 years of research of over 3,500 patients suffering from sleep apnea & snoring, that limiting alcohol intake before bed can help to reduce snoring in some patients that are looking for ways to lower their night-time snoring without the use of a CPAP machine or other oral appliance.

Dr. Hakimi says that having alcohol before bedtime increases the relaxation of the tongue and throat muscles, therefore making snoring more likely. In addition to reducing alcohol intake before bed, he recommends to his patients to make sure nasal passages are clear, as this makes breathing much easier during night-time sleeping. Read the rest of this entry

Performing polysomnography (sleep study) prior to pediatric adenotonsillectomy (surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids) may help identify children at a higher risk of developing postoperative respiratory complications, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“Pediatric adenotonsillectomy is a safe outpatient procedure; however, there is a subset of patients who do not meet the criteria for outpatient surgery,” according to background information in the article. Guidelines for adenotonsillectomy, established by the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, recommend that children should be healthy, have no evidence of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (recurring episodes of obstruction or collapse of the upper airway during sleep) and be older than 3 years. Read the rest of this entry

A recently concluded research has brought out the direct and indirect costs of sleep-disordered breathing (snoring, sleep apnea (SA) and obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS)) and the treatment are incompletely described.

A research study was recently performed to evaluate the relations between sleep characteristics and cardiovascular risk factors and napping behavior, and to assess whether daytime napping leads to subsequent better or worse sleep.

 The sample consisted of 224 (African American, Caucasian, and Asian) middle-aged men and women. Sleep measures included nine nights of actigraphy and sleep diaries, sleep questionnaires, and one night of polysomnography to measure sleep disordered breathing.

More frequent napping was associated with shorter nighttime sleep duration averaged across the nine nights of actigraphy (especially among African Americans), more daytime sleepiness, more pain and fatigue by diary, and increased body mass index and waist circumference. Shorter nighttime sleep duration was associated with taking a nap during the next day and taking a nap was associated with less efficient sleep the next night.

Napping in middle-aged men and women is associated with overall less nighttime sleep in African Americans and lower sleep efficiency as measured by actigraphy, and increased BMI and central adiposity. These findings point to the importance of measuring of napping in understanding associations of sleep with cardiovascular risk.

U. Joseph Schoepf, M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, and colleagues found that patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) appear to have an increased risk of developing a more aggressive form of atherosclerosis. The investigators evaluated 49 obese patients (mean age, 61 years) with OSA and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 33 kg/m², and 46 obese patients without the condition (mean age of 60 years and mean BMI of 30 kg/m²), using coronary computed tomography angiography (cCTA).

The data revealed that patients with OSA had a significantly higher prevalence of non-calcified and mixed plaques compared to patients without the condition.

“cCTA is an effective way to noninvasively diagnose non-calcified and mixed plaque,” Schoepf said in a statement. “With technological advancements that are lowering the radiation dose required for cCTA, this exam could become a screening tool for obese individuals at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.”

A new study has revealed that people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder associated with obesity, have more non-calcified or “bad” plaque in their coronary arteries. 

“Our study reveals that individuals with obstructive sleep apnea are prone to developing an aggressive form of atherosclerosis that puts them at risk for impaired blood flow and cardiovascular events,” said U Joseph Schoepf, director of cardiovascular imaging at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C. 

OSA is caused by obstruction of the upper airway during sleep and is characterized by periodic pauses in breathing, which last for 10 or more seconds. OSA is also commonly associated with snoring.  Read the rest of this entry

Notwithstanding previous studies supporting independent associations between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and prevalence of diabetes, the underlying pathogenesis of impaired glucose regulation in OSA remains unclear. The mechanism was explored to find out linking OSA with prediabetes/diabetes and associated biomarker profiles.

The researchers hypothesized that OSA is associated with distinct alterations in glucose homeostasis and biomarker profiles in subjects with normal (NGM) and impaired glucose metabolism (IGM). 

Forty-five severely obese adults (36 women) without certain comorbidities/medications underwent anthropometric measurements, polysomnography, and blood tests. We measured fasting serum glucose, insulin, selected cytokines, and calculated homeostasis model assessment estimates of insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IS) and pancreatic beta-cell function (HOMA-B). Read the rest of this entry

A research was concluded toevaluate the effect of body position on REM-related obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients.

In this Retrospective analysis based research 100 consecutive adult OSA patients (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] ? 5) who had ? 10 min of REM sleep in both supine and lateral postures. REM-related OSA was defined by previously used criteria (REM AHI/Non-REM (NREM) AHI ? 2) and was compared with data from Not–REM-related OSA (REM AHI / NREM AHI < 2).

Most (93%) of the REM-related OSA patients (n = 45) had a mild–moderate syndrome, compared to 50.9% in the Not–REM-related OSA patients (n = 55). REM-related OSA patients had a lower apnea index (AI), AHI, supine and lateral AHI, and NREM AHI, but similar REM AHI compared to the Not–REM-related OSA group. For the entire group, the following sequence was observed:

AHI REM supine > AHI NREM supine > AHI REM lateral > AHI NREM lateral. Also, for the REM-related and Not–REM-related OSA patients, the interaction between supine posture and REM sleep led to the highest AHI. However, the average length of apnea and hypopneas during REM sleep was similar in the supine and lateral postures.

During REM sleep, the supine position is associated with increased frequency but not increased duration of apneas and hypopneas. These body position effects prevail over the differences between REM-related and Not–REM-related OSA patients.

Team of researchers included Arie Oksenberg, Ph.D.; Elena Arons, Ph.D.; Khitam Nasser, PSGT; Tatiana Vander, M.D.; Henryk Radwan, M.D. from Sleep Disorders Unit, Loewenstein Hospital-Rehabilitation Center, Raanana, Israel.

UVa Health System, Pulmonary and Critical Care Department seeks healthy children, adolescents, and young adults ages 5 to 20, with snoring and possible sleep-related obstructive breathing disorders for a research study.

The purpose of this study is to find out if an experimental portable device, called SoundTrak, can collect data about your breathing at home while you sleep, and determine whether you stop breathing during sleep (called sleep apnea). This data from the SoundTrak would then be compared to the data collected during a standard overnight sleep study at the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) Sleep Lab. Read the rest of this entry

UVa Health System, Department of Medicine, Pulmonary Division seeks healthy men, women, children and adolescents ages 5 to 65, with snoring and possible sleep-related obstructive breathing disorders for a research study.

The purpose of the study is to determine if an experimental device for sleep monitoring can accurately tell if you are awake or asleep and how well you are sleeping. The experimental device will be compared to a sleep study done using standard sleep monitoring equipment.
The study involves 1 outpatient consent and screening visit that will last about 1 hour, and 1 overnight stay at UVa Health Systems GCRC of about 16 hours for sleep monitoring.

§ Study-related screening visit and overnight sleep test (standard test to detect the presence of sleep apnea) provided free of charge.
§ Compensation for study completion is $ 125.00
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Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may blame their daytime difficulties on simple sleepiness, but new research suggests that their brains may be to blame. Specifically, their cognitive challenges may be caused by structural deficits in gray matter, brought on by the intermittent oxygen deprivation that comes with OSA. The good news is that these deficits may be partially or fully reversible with early detection and treatment, according to Italian researchers.

“OSA patients demonstrate several neuropsychological impairments, but current knowledge of the brain structures affected by OSA is limited. This study provides the first evidence that structural brain abnormalities exist in regions susceptible to hypoxemia, and they can change with treatment,” said Vincenza Castronovo, Ph.D., clinical psychologist at the Sleep Disorders Center, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy. Read the rest of this entry

Hazardous and harmful drinking and sleep problems are common, but their associations among patients seen in primary care have not been examined. We hypothesized that greater levels of alcohol consumption would be associated with several self-reported sleep problems.

In a cross-sectional survey in primary care practices, 94 participating clinicians recruited up to 30 consecutive adult patients, and both clinicians and patients completed anonymous postvisit questionnaires. Patients were asked questions on demographics, alcohol consumption, cardinal symptoms of alcohol use disorders, sleep quality, insomnia, sleep apnea, and symptoms of restless leg syndrome. Multivariate analyses explored the associations of drinking status (none, moderate, or hazardous) and sleep problems, adjusting for demographics and clustering of patients within physician. Read the rest of this entry

Alarming new statistics show that twenty-six per cent of Canadian adults aged 18 years and older are estimated to be at high risk for having sleep apnea, according to a large national survey, and the Canadian Lung Association urges Canadians to find out if they are at risk.

Sleep apnea is a serious breathing disorder that causes sufferers to have dozens or hundreds of breathing pauses or “apneas” per night. The survey revealed that about 7 million Canadians either have sleep apnea or are at high risk for having sleep apnea.

“It is alarming that very few of these at-risk Canadians have been assessed for sleep apnea,” says Dr. John Fleetham, an advisor to the survey and chair of the Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) Sleep Disordered Breathing Committee. The CTS is the medical arm of the Canadian Lung Association. Read the rest of this entry

Eighty-one percent of hospital patients are at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea, a Loyola University Health System study has found.  

The findings suggest that hospitals should consider giving patients a five-minute screening test to identify those who are at high risk. 

Sleep specialist Dr. Sunita Kumar and colleagues administered an eight-question obstructive sleep apnea screening questionnaire known as STOP-BANG to patients during a single day at Loyola University Hospital.

Patients were excluded if they were on a breathing tube, on sedatives or had an altered mental status. 

Of the 195 patients surveyed, 157, or 80.5 percent, were at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea, meaning they answered “Yes” to at least three questions on the questionnaire.  Read the rest of this entry

A recent research study established that acupuncture as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has immediate effects in reducing nocturnal respiratory events, sleep disruptions, and desaturations (low oxygen levels in the blood). The researchers hypothesize that this improvement is due to acupuncture’s effects on serotonergic pathways and also acupuncture’s anti-inflammatory effects. Both manual acupuncture and 10Hz electro-acupuncture techniques were found effective. Both techniques produced superior clinical outcomes compared with 2Hz electro-acupuncture.
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