SleepApneaDisorder/[Press Release]/-Dr. Markus Schmidt will review common sleep disorders and cardiovascular consequences of sleep apnea on Saturday, August 21^st at 1:00 p.m. at the Health & Fitness Expo held at the Columbus Convention Center. The lecture is free and opened to the public attending the event.  

“Many residents in Central Ohio suffer from a sleep problem or disorder that affects not only their quality of life, but also their daytime performance and can have profound consequences on their overall mental and physical health,” says Dr. Markus Schmidt, medical director at the Ohio Sleep Medicine Institute. “Sleep is a vital element for our well-being, and addressing underlying conditions that contribute to insomnia, snoring, sleep apnea, restless nights or other sleep disturbances can completely change one’s life,” he adds. Read the rest of this entry

A recently research report on a patient with mental retardation and chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure who was found to have severe central apnea and periodic breathing while undergoing an evaluation of low oxygen saturation during wakefulness at rest has revealed that the Joubert syndrome is closely associated with severe central sleep apnea.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, which was performed to uncover potential causes for the central sleep apnea, revealed a “molar tooth sign” consistent with the diagnosis of Joubert syndrome. Read the rest of this entry

A team of researchers at the Sleep Disorders Unit, Loewenstein Hospital-Rehabilitation Center, Raanana, Israel attempted to evaluate the effect of body position on REM-related obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. 

In the specifically conducted retrospective analysis for 100 consecutive adult OSA patients (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] ? 5) who had ? 10 min of REM sleep in both supine and lateral postures. Read the rest of this entry

Hemangiomas involving the upper airway can be an uncommon cause of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Case presentationA 26-year-old Caucasian man with a known history of a large hemangioma of his head and neck presented with sleep-disordered breathing to the sleep unit of our hospital.

Severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome was revealed on polysomnography.

Nasal continuous positive airway pressure was implemented effectively, reducing daytime hypersomnolence and significantly improving sleep parameters.

After three years of adherent use, the patient remains in a good condition and the hemangioma is stable. Read the rest of this entry

Wives of soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, sleep apnea and other sleep disorders along with complex mental health conditions than women whose husbands are not deployed, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Read the rest of this entry

The National Weather Service has posted an excessive heat warning for several counties in the western part of Tennessee and temperatures of 100 degrees or more are expected to spread to the middle of the state, affecting cities like Nashville. For many, these temperatures are uncomfortable, but for others, excessively hot weather can threaten their very lives.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2001 over 300 people lost their lives from excessive heat exposure. In the period between 1979 and 2003, more people died from extreme heat in the U.S. than from hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes combined. Read the rest of this entry

In a recently completed research study the researchers examined that among children undergoing adenotonsillectomy for obstructive sleep apnea, what are the responsible factors that promote incomplete resolution of obstructive sleep apnea.

In quest to this exploration researchers  attempted to assess the efficacy of surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids (adenotonsillectomy [AT]) in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children, and to delineate factors associated with persistent OSA, a retrospective review of pre- and postsurgery polysomnograms (PSG) through a research study which was conducted at eight facilities in the US and Europe. Read the rest of this entry

 [Press Release]/ July 29, 2010 – ROSEVILLE, CA,/ – Roseville dentist Preddis L. Sullivan DDS, a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, knows how effective an oral appliance can be in the treatment of a common sleep disorder known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Many of his patients have found much needed relief through this simple treatment option.

New professional guidelines have provided further support for what both Dr. Sullivan and his patients already know: oral appliances, which are similar in appearance to an orthodontic retainer or a sports mouthguard, are an excellent treatment option for patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea. Read the rest of this entry

The information gap and general lack of understanding of obesity’s unique and disproportionate impact on women contributes to the challenges of the 65 million American women who are considered overweight or obese, said the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance Task Force on Women at a meeting on Capitol Hill today. Through discussions with health experts and an extensive review of obesity prevalence research, the Task Force found women to be hit hardest by obesity – confounding efforts to turn the tide on the nation’s obesity problem, especially in children.

“We rely on women to serve as the ‘Chief Health Officer’ for the family, but with more than a third being obese themselves, we’re unlikely to break the cycle with children without finding ways for moms to overcome their weight problems as well,” said Christine Ferguson, professor at The George Washington University and Director of the STOP Obesity Alliance. “What’s more, achieving healthier weights for women, whether they are mothers or not, will mean a healthier society overall. Unfortunately, significant barriers stand in the way.” Read the rest of this entry

How do mammals prepare themselves in utero for a radical modification to their respiration at the time of birth, when they move abruptly from an aquatic medium to air?

CNRS researchers, working in collaboration with teams from the Universities of the Méditerranée, Paris-Sud 11 and Paul Cézanne have identified a gene in the mouse that is essential to respiration and consequently to survival at birth. This work, just published in the Journal of Neuroscience, opens the way to better understanding respiratory disorders in humans, which can range from sleep apnea to sudden infant death syndrome. Read the rest of this entry

According to the American Sleep Apnea Foundation, sleep apnea affects over 12 million Americans, but “the vast majority go undiagnosed.” If you find yourself suffering from daytime sleepiness and loud snoring at night, you might have sleep apnea.

The Sleep Aid App will record you sleeping, then allow you to compare your snoring and nighttime activity with samples of sleep apnea. This way, you can test yourself and be alerted to this life-threatening disorder without the need to go in for an expensive sleep study.

Department of Surgical Gastroenterology at Manipal Hospital, Bangalore inaugurated Bariatric Surgery Services, a comprehensive programme for bariatric surgery. This distinctive programme offers pre-operative education, state of the art surgical facility and post operative support.

The benefits of bariatric surgery have been carefully studied and it is recommended for patients with a body mass index of 37.5 Kg/m2 or those with a BMI above 32.5 Kg/m2 with co-morbidities. Bariatric surgery not only causes a significant and sustained weight loss but a significant improvement of co-morbidities. Almost 70 per cent of patients with morbidity hypertension and Type 2 diabetes can be expected to get off medications in about three months time. Read the rest of this entry

Clinic-based observational studies in men have reported that obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased incidence of coronary heart disease. The objective of this study was to assess the relation of obstructive sleep apnea to incident coronary heart disease and heart failure in a general community sample of adult men and women.

A total of 1927 men and 2495 women 40 years of age and free of coronary heart disease and heart failure at the time of baseline polysomnography were followed up for a median of 8.7 years in this prospective longitudinal epidemiological study. Read the rest of this entry

A recently concluded  research study established that the patients denied bariatric surgery by their insurer developed a host of new obesity-related diseases and conditions including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) , within three years. 

Another study on insurers, showed that patients on insurance-mandated diet programs for six months before bariatric surgery did no better than patients with no such insurance requirement. However, patients on these programs had to wait, on average, about four months longer for surgery. 

Findings of this new research study were presented at the 27th annual scientific meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) recently.

Long term chronic illness like sleep apnea can affect a person’s mental health as well as physical health.

Chronic illness is long term, and may never go away; sometime there is no perceivable cause for the illness. Conversely, a person with a chronic illness never regains a baseline of normal functioning.
Acute illness is what we experience when we do something like catch a cold or have bronchitis.

Sleep apnea is one of the most Common chronic illnesses aprt from arthritis, auto-immune disorders (Hashimoto’s Disease, Graves Disease), asthma, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, lupus, and severe joint and back problems. Read the rest of this entry