Smoking and Sleep Apnea

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for sleep apnea and a number of other sleep disorders including bruxism, insomnia, and morning headaches. Some of these problems are a result of nicotine, a stimulant that can easily interfere with a restful night’s sleep. But issues such as snoring and other sleep apnea symptoms are more likely a result of the smoke itself along with the myriad carcinogens and poisons that stay in your system even weeks after you quit smoking.

Smoking alone comes with a multitude of dangers, but when you add the dangers of obstructive sleep apnea, quitting now is clearly in your best interests. What’s more, if you have children or live with others, your second-hand smoke may result in sleep disturbances for them, making your choice to smoke something that can affect the health and safety of those who have not made a similar choice.

Treating Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea treatment often requires a combination of approaches, one of which will be behavioral changes. If you smoke, quitting is one of the best ways to begin treating your condition. When combined with things such as exercise, a proper diet, and oral devices that can help keep airways open, your chances of beating sleep apnea and escaping its deadly consequences become much higher.

If you are looking for the most effective way to treat your sleep apnea, please contact I Hate CPAP today to find a qualified physician near you.

Can CPAP be Harmful?

CPAP machines are used in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and are intended to help maintain a continuous flow of oxygen during sleep. However, these machines can also result in discomfort and certain medical issues for some patients.

Potential risks of CPAP machines include:

• Severe nasal congestion and/or infection
• Nasal bleeding
• Chronic sore throats and/or throat infection
• Conjunctivitis
• Skin irritation and/or sores

In addition, untreated sinus infections caused by CPAP machines are linked to an increased risk for the potentially deadly bacterial infection meningitis. While this complication is rare, it is not impossible, and should be a consideration before using a CPAP machine.

Alternatives to CPAP

Due to the possible risks associated with CPAP machines, many people seek alternative sleep apnea treatments. Fortunately, a number of these alternatives are readily available and many have proven to be more effective than forced air pressure machines.

Oral appliances created by a qualified sleep apnea dentist are perhaps the most popular CPAP alternative. These appliances can help keep soft tissue in the mouth in place while also angling the jaw to allow for optimal oxygen flow while sleeping.

To learn which type of sleep apnea treatment is best for your particular case, please contact I Hate CPAP today to find an experienced physician in your area.

CDC Study Links Sleep Apnea to Depression

A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that people who suffer from sleep apnea and related sleeping disorders are more likely to also suffer symptoms of depression. The study, which appeared in the April 2013 edition of Sleep, found that the more prevalent sleep apnea symptoms, particularly choking and gasping for air, the higher the risk for depression in the 10,000 adult participants.

The dangers of sleep apnea have long been known, but very few studies have been done on the link between depression and sleep apnea. Prior to the CDC study, only two other studies had focused on this link, and while both found similar results, the sample groups were too small to allow for anything conclusive.

You Have Options

If you are suffering from symptoms of sleep apnea, including depression, you have choices when it comes to your care. Many people find a noninvasive sleep apnea treatment such as an oral device prescribed by a dentist is all it takes to keep airways open and restore a restful night’s sleep.

If you would like to learn more about treating sleep apnea, please contact I Hate CPAP today to locate an experienced physician in your area.

Children and Sleep Disordered Breathing

Sleep Apnea and Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) are taken very seriously in adults but children have long been undertreated.  This year at both the Dental Sleep Meeting AADSM and the Sleep Meeting AASM numerous lectures were given on the need for early and definitive treatment of sleep disordered breathing in children.

Tonsil and Adenoid removal has long been the first line of treatment.  Several studies showed that just T&A is not always a cure.  Every child should have a follow-up study to ensure SDB is resolved.

Tand A after age 7 will probably require the addition of CPAP or an oral appliance.  The earlier the airway obstruction is corrected the faster the return to normal growth patterns.  Epigenetic orthodontics can correct altered growth that resulted from obstructive tonsils and adenoids.  Rapid Maxillary Expansion (RME) is often utilized in children to increase the airway (pneumopedics) but as the child ages becomes less effective.  In adults RME may require a surgical assist.

How young is too young for T&A?  4 years old or earlier. 1 1/2 - 2 years old  may be ideal.  There is also the question whether maxillary expansion should precede T&A surgery.  There is good evidence that a larger airway leads to faster healing and less risky surgery.  In some children surgery may be avoided.

The most important item is to never ignore poor sleep, early morning awakenings, excessive nocturnal sweating , hyperactivity or mild snoring in children as it can create permanent changes in growth and development as well as changes in mental development and brain maturation.  The American Academy of Pediatric Medicine says there is no acceptable level of sleep apnea in children and that all pediatric snoring should be evaluated. 

SLEEP APNEA CURE! Epigenetic Orthodontics and A Sleep Apnea Cure

Oral Appliances and CPAP are treatments for sleep apnea much like an artificial leg is a replacement for a missing leg.  Epigenetic Orthodontics offers many patients a potential cure for sleep apnea by permanently correcting pathologic orthopedic relationships.  The DNA appliance can literally grow bone creating a larger oral cavity.  This process can be described as Pneumopedics or the growing of a larger airway permanently to eliminate sleep apnea.
The DNA Appliance allows orthodontic, orthopedic and pneumopedic changes while only wearing the appliance 12-16 hours a day.
DNA stands for Day and Night Appliance.  A special variation of the DNA Appliance is the RNA Appliance that treats the sleep apnea while growth of the bones and airway  occur.

Morbidly obese patients may not be able to cure sleep apnea but may be able to increase the size of their airway.

Sleep Apnea is very dangerous and there are no guarantees of a cure, therefor it is important for every patient to have folow-up sleep studies evaluated by a sleep physician.