Sleep affects a person’s waking hours more than a person realizes. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, about 60 million Americans suffer from insomnia or other sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, restless limb syndrome, narcolepsy, delayed or advanced sleep phase syndrome and parasomnias. 

The Alert, Well and Keeping Energy (AWAKE) sleep support group is part of the Piedmont Newnan Sleep Center’s efforts to help patients get the rest they need to lead normal, productive lives.

“People don’t realize the affect and power a good night’s sleep has on people,” says Jennifer Morrow, the Piedmont Newnan Hospital Sleep Center and AWAKE support group coordinator.

Some common symptoms of not getting enough rest include excessive sleepiness during daytime hours, loud snoring, pauses during breathing while asleep, morning headaches, restless legs during sleep and exhaustion despite having enough sleep hours. Read the rest of this entry

The Center at Norwalk Hospital will be hosting its first Sleep Apnea Support Group for Children on Saturday, Nov. 12.  Parents and children are invited to attend the educational event.

Kass will address the group with a talk, “The Significance of Snoring at Any Age.”. In general, symptoms of sleep apnea in toddlers may include tantrums and irritability. As children get older, the lack of sleep may manifest itself as hyperactivity, acting out, poor grades in school, mood swings, and even a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

“In addition to the potential health issues associated with sleep apnea, we see children who suffer from fatigue and attention issues due to interruption in sleep,” said Kass.

The program is being offered as a public service and as part of A.W.A.K.E (Alert, Well, and Keeping Energetic) of the American Sleep Apnea Association.  A.W.A.K.E. is a health awareness program offered to those who suffer from sleep apnea, as well as their family, friends and anyone who is interested in learning more.

The Nov. 12 support group will include face painting and drawing activities for children.  Children are encouraged to bring their CPAP masks for a fitting by experienced sleep technicians.  CPAP users and family are being encouraged to share their tips for successful sleeping with CPAP.

Sleep Apnea Support Group for Children: 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 12, in the fifth floor Patio Room at Norwalk Hospital.  The event is free and seating is limited.  Register by calling (203) 852-2821 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (203) 852-2821     end_of_the_skype_highlighting or (203) 852-2833 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (203) 852-2833     end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Aviisha Medical Institute, LLC has released its long-anticipated Guide  to Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The guide was authored by Aviisha’s Medical  Director, Dr. Avi Ishaaya, and is the only online guide written by a certified  sleep physician. The guide is free to download and share and can be accessed at www.aviisha.com/new/ebook.

“In addition to testing and treating patients, one of our main goals at the  institute is raising awareness about sleep apnea,” said Dr. Avi. “Sleep apnea  affects one in every five to fifteen people, but 80-90% of them are undiagnosed  and in need of treatment. We created this ebook to help spread the word about  sleep apnea.”

The ebook is packed useful information about diagnosing and treating sleep  apnea, including:

•      Biology and Causes of Sleep Apnea
•     Dangers and Complications
•     Risk Factors
•     Screening for OSA Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/ [Press Release ]/Los Angeles, California /Aviisha Medical Institute, LLC, the  national leader in home sleep care, is inviting the public to attend its  obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) webinars. The webinars are broadcasted live on the  first Monday of every month at 1pm PST. They webinars are hosted by Dr. Avi  Ishaaya and cover a broad range of topics related to sleep apnea. Dr. Avi is a  board-certified pulmonologist who specializes in treating sleep disorders. He is  the one of nation’s foremost experts on sleep issues and has been featured in  Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal.

The webinars were originally designed for physicians in Aviisha’s MD Home  Sleep Program (www.aviisha.com/mdhsp),  but interest and demand have changed that. “The webinars are a great way for all  people to learn about sleep apnea,” said Dr. Avi. “Sleep apnea carries serious  consequences for sufferers as well as their partners. Its prevalence is rising  dramatically yet only 10-20% of sufferers are diagnosed. We hope that opening  these webinars to the public can help raise awareness.” Read the rest of this entry

The Edward Sleep Center A.W.A.K.E. (Alert, Well And Keeping Energetic) support group will host first vendor fair from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Edward Sleep Center, 27555 Diehl Road in Warrenville.

Sleep medicine vendors will be present to provide information about and offer demonstrations of what’s new in the field. The event is open to the public and admission is free.

Sleep apnea patients, family members, physicians and allied health staff are invited to learn about new continuous positive airway pressure equipment, masks and other accessories. Free CPAP machine pressure checks will also be offered. Read the rest of this entry

Sleep Group Solutions (SGS) a leader in dental continuing education takes  pride in offering dentists top level courses on dental sleep medicine.  With an increase in sleep apnea research and  studies, Sleep Group Solutions plans to double courses offered to dentists  interested in screening and treating sleep apnea in 2012.

Recent  studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association prove sleep apnea  linking to dementia in women.  Breathing disorders, such as sleep apnea are  getting more attention and research in the medical field, and now the dental  field has perked an interest.  Dentists are filling class rooms across the  US to gain dental  continuing education on how to screen and treat sleep apnea in house,  through oral appliance therapy.   Sleep Group Solutions continues to  provide dentists with the education needed to treat OSA.  ” In 2011 we  offered the dental community 50 courses to choose from.  With such an  increased demand from the dental community, we are planning to offer around 70  for 2012,”  John Nadeau, VP Sleep Group Solutions. Read the rest of this entry

Advocate Condell Medical Center, along with the Alert, Well, And Keeping Energetic support group (A.W.A.K.E.), is hosting a CPAP vendor fair on Tuesday, Oct. 4, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the conference center at 801 South Milwaukee Ave. in Libertyville. The event is free and open to the public.

Sleep apnea patients, family members and physicians are invited to learn about new continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) equipment, masks, and other items for clients. Vendors include; DeVilbiss, Phillips Respironics, ResMed, Candance, Fisher & Paykel along with Dr. Debbie Kline, an oral appliance specialist. Additionally, Advocate Home Health Care will offer free CPAP equipment pressure checks.  Read the rest of this entry

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) today announced agreement (PDF) on important fatigue recommendations that were developed by a joint FAA-NATCA working group which was established under the 2009 collective bargaining agreement.

“The American public must have confidence that our nation’s air traffic controllers are rested and ready to work,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.  “We have the safest air transportation system in the world but we needed to make changes and we are doing that.”

The agreement reinforces existing FAA policy that prohibits air traffic controllers from sleeping while they are performing assigned duties.  The FAA will continue to provide air traffic controllers breaks on the midnight shift based on staffing and workload.  While on break, air traffic controllers are expected to conduct themselves professionally and be available for recall at all times. Read the rest of this entry

A recent study by the Center for Disease Control reveals that 29 percent of Americans get less than the recommended minimum of seven hours of sleep each night.

To raise awareness of the need for better sleep, Piedmont Newnan Hospital is teaming up with the American Sleep Association to establish a local Alert, Well, and Keeping Energetic (A.W.A.K.E.) support group.

The group’s first quarterly meeting is open to friends, family members and patients with sleep apnea and will be led by board-certified physician, Vijay Patel, M.D. “Understanding Sleep Apnea and its Treatment Options” will be held tonight at 6 at the Sleep Center located at 20 Francis Way, Suite 150 in Sharpsburg. 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

Umbian has launched a 3-month pilot program for its compliance management solution, U-Sleep. U-Sleep is being launched for the commercial transportation industry and will monitor individual drivers who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and are undergoing treatment for sleep apnea.

U-Sleep monitors PAP device usage, coaches drivers into therapy compliance, and provides detailed reporting to both the driver and their employer. It also allows companies to define specific rules that establish a therapy compliance standard for their organization.

Throughout the pilot program, U-Sleep will monitor drivers who utilize a Philips Respironics PAP device that wirelessly shares usage data on a daily basis. U-Sleep sends real-time notifications via e-mail, text message, or voice call when the company’s specific compliance standard is achieved or violated. Read the rest of this entry

What Is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They often occur five to 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound.

Sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed. Doctors usually cannot detect the condition during routine office visits. Also, there are no blood tests for the condition. Most people who have sleep apnea do not know they have it because it only occurs during sleep. A family member or bed partner may first notice the signs of sleep apnea.

The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. This most often means that the airway has collapsed or is blocked during sleep. The blockage may cause shallow breathing or breathing pauses.

When you try to breathe, any air that squeezes past the blockage can cause loud snoring. Obstructive sleep apnea is more common in people who are overweight, but it can affect anyone. Read the rest of this entry

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

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.