Mouthpiece For Sleep Apnea

What to Do if you Feel Sleepy during the Daytime

Mouthpiece For Sleep Apnea

Snoring Related Issues

Snoring can sometimes be a symptom of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a serious sleep disorder that takes a toll on the physical as well as mental well being of the affected person. People who snore loudly at night feel sleepy during the day, but a sleep study is necessary to confirm whether a snorer suffers from OSA.

Sleep study for OSA involves monitoring one’s breathing patterns, blood levels and oxygen levels. This is generally done with the use of a specialized equipment on a subject in the assumption that he or she who feels sleepy during the daytime has OSA. If the study reveals the person subjected to it has the sleep disorder, then various snoring remedies are tried to improve his or her sleep quality.

A remedy or a combination of remedies for Obstructive Sleep Apnea is recommended to a person only based on the study’s results or severity of the sleep disorder. The main treatment option for mild to moderate apnea is an oral appliance. The type of oral device could also be helpful in dealing with the underlying reason behind snoring and sleep apnea.

For instance, if you were snoring due to a receding lower jaw or partial breathing obstructions in the upper throat, then a mouthpiece for sleep apnea will work to free the airway and allow proper breathing during the nighttime. Such a Mandibular Advancement Device (MAD), as it is technically known, is a clinically proven and non-invasive remedy for snoring, which sleep specialists recommend for mild to moderate apnea too.

To bring about better results in the oral appliance therapy, doctors may also suggest conservative treatment options like sleeping on the sides, reducing weight, avoiding alcohol before a few hours of bedtime, and any other lifestyle changes. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy can be helpful too but it is usually used to treat more severe cases of OSA. In other words, that is recommended for people who snore loudly as an apnea symptom.

Sometimes, a combination of MAD and CPAP is also used to treat the sleep disorder. However, not all people who snore suffer from OSA. Besides, there could be other reasons for feeling drowsy at an inappropriate time of the day as well. In fact, it all starts with proper diagnosis, so if you feel sleepy and drowsy during the daytime very often, consult with a sleep specialist as soon as possible to figure out what is causing it, and how to deal with it.

What is the Connection between Snoring and Parkinson’s Disease

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Snoring And Parkinson’s Disease

Snoring is one of the common problems that most people are facing, at the present time. According to a study, around 40% of people in the United States are facing snoring related issues. This is just the known cases; there will be million other cases that are unreported and untreated. Most people still find it really embarrassing to admit that they have snoring issues.

The Relation between Snoring and Parkinson’s Disease

It is medically proven that snoring may be an indicator of many other diseases such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Alzheimer’s, cardiac issues, etc. In worst cases, snoring can be fatal too, if left untreated. This can be the other way around as well, that is, snoring may be an after effect of some diseases. One of such health issue that may lead to snoring problems is Parkinson’s disease.

According to a recent study, around 75% of people affected with Parkinson’s disease also suffer from sleep disorders such as snoring, sleep apnea, etc. The most common sleep issues that are associated with Parkinson’s include:

  • Snoring
  • Shouting or talking while sleeping
  • Short sleeping intervals
  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea
  • Fatigue and drowsiness during daytime
  • Nightmares
  • Restless legs
  • Difficulty to turn sides
  • Cramping
  • Rigidity and shivering

Treatment

In some extreme cases, people affected with Parkinson’s syndrome also experience REM sleep behavioral disorder where the person acts out of their dreams. This may include kicking, hitting, shouting, and grinding teeth while sleeping. However, this can be treated using appropriate medication.

In most cases, many symptoms can be a side effect of the medications or drugs that the patient consumes in order to cure the Parkinson’s disease. Hence, it can be solved by changing those medicines or the treatment plan after consulting a doctor. On the other hand, you can also tackle some of these problems up to an extent by making some changes in your lifestyle. A few things in that regard can be:

  • Avoiding stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol
  • Avoiding drinking water few hours before going to bed
  • Avoiding heavy meal for dinner
  • Avoiding to think about stressful things before going to bed

The amount of sleep of the patient also triggers many sleeping disorders. So, it is advisable to keep a track of sleep cycle of the patient by means of home sleep study. In this, the breathing, as well as sleep parameters of the patient, is monitored. This will include a pulse oximetry, an instrument to measure the oxygen levels in the blood along with a record of events like the pause in breathing, sleeping pattern, snoring, movements, etc.

How OSA Can Indirectly Cause Stroke

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Sleep Apnea And Stroke

Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA is a condition where the breathing of a person gets interrupted while they are sleeping, with this happening as many as 100 times in an hour. This disorder mostly comes on in people over 40 years of age, and in those who are overweight. It is seen that more men than women have this problem, which becomes equally probable as age progresses.

Sleep Apnea is known to be the cause of a variety of cardiovascular, behavioural, and neurological problems, such as heart attacks, lack of concentration, depression, high blood pressure and poor memory. It is also seen to be a risk factor for strokes. It can be treated using a mouthpiece for sleep apnea.

What is Stroke?

A stroke happens when some part of the brain gets deprived of blood and oxygen, from any number of reasons. This can be caused by a blocked or narrowed artery to the brain, or even a burst blood vessel in the brain. Low oxygen levels in the blood and brain can be caused by the breathing interruptions seen in OSA. The most probable kind of stroke to result from sleep apnea is ischemic stroke, where the blood supply to the brain is lessened.

If you Have a Stroke While Asleep

Stroke risks that result from sleep breathing are very dangerous. In such a scenario, a person who fell asleep early in the night, can have a stroke, and not know about it until several hours later. If it has been more than three hours after the stroke came on, then you have passed the time for intravenous blood clot dissolution. This means the damage caused by the stroke cannot be reversed. It is not uncommon to sustain severe brain damage or even die as a result of such a stroke.

If you Suspect a Breathing Problem

There may be one or more of the symptoms mentioned above, or maybe you were told by a loved one or sleeping partner that you snore a lot at night. The best way forward is not to take these observations lightly, and to get to a primary care physician as soon as possible. They can refer you for a sleep study, which will show if you have OSA.

It stands to reason that treating both snoring and OSA can greatly reduce your risks of developing stroke, especially while asleep. Not only that, but it is also a great way to stop snoring, ensuring a better quality of life.

Studies Indicate a Correlation between Sleep Apnea and Gout

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Sleep Apnea And Gout

Recent studies have found out a correlation between sleep apnea and gout. Researchers said that persons who suffered from sleep apnea had a higher chance of developing gout.

Gout is common and is a type of arthritis that results in pain, swelling, and stiffness in the major joints of the leg such as the toe, ankle, and knee. Sleep apnea affects an estimated of 12 million people in the US alone. This large percentage of people affected with sleep apnea makes them prone to other problems associated with it such as gout.

Long and repeated interruptions during sleep are common for patients suffering from sleep apnea. This can affect many of the critical bodily functions leading to further complications if left untreated.

What is Gout?

Gout refers to painful arthritis where the individual experiences sudden and sharp pain in the leg joints. The affected area can become swollen and further movements will cause more pain making it difficult to walk. All the important joints of the leg such as the big toe, knee, and ankles are prone to gout. This is caused mainly due to the buildup of urate crystals in the affected joint.

The increased concentration of uric acid in the blood is one reason for the development of urate crystals. Excess uric acid can accumulate in the blood when it does not dissolve in blood or the kidneys fails to remove them from the body through urine. This causes the urate crystals to accumulate on the joints of the legs and even the hands causing pain and swelling.

Sleep Apnea and Gout

The studies conducted by researchers have proven that approximately 50 percent of the individuals who suffer from sleep apnea are prone to gout. The researchers have come up with several reasons, the most convincing being the deprivation of oxygen during sleep apnea.

The deprivation of oxygen in the blood during sleep apnea causes damage to the cells and tissues and a buildup of uric acid in the blood. These can cause the uric acid to turn into urate crystals and accumulate in the joints causing pain and swelling. Besides, there are other reasons as well that connect the two conditions; such as the various after-effects of sleep apnea like high blood pressure.

Treatment

Treating gout linked to sleep apnea requires first addressing the problem of the sleep disorder itself. Effective treatment options such as a mouthpiece for sleep apnea enables adequate air intake and maintain proper oxygen levels, which in turn would help in a healthy concentration of uric acid in the blood. This can prevent gout and other painful conditions from developing in the first place. However, note that gout should be treated specifically, so proper diagnosis by a specialist is essential to permanently relieve the problem.

What Mothers Need to Know about Breastfeeding and OSA

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Breastfeeding And OSA

It is a clinically proven fact that improving the structure of the upper airway will give a free flow of air and improve breathing with less snoring. That is why many people wear a mouthpiece for sleep apnea before bedtime to advance the lower jaw forward and clear the partial blockage in the back of the throat.

In fact, even breastfeeding contributes to the tongue’s swallowing movement, right teeth alignment, and shapes the hard palate’s shape. However, feeding children through bottle or if they suck the thumb at a young age may lead to a ‘tongue thrust’ and improper positioning of the teeth when jaws stay closed. Malocclusion, alongside a high amount of palate in the mouth, adversely affects the airflow and hence may lead to a sleep disorder known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea in children, which may cause them to gasp for breath at night.

Breastfeeding will potentially avoid this root cause. Some surveys suggest that a majority of the children aged between 12 to 17 encounter some sort of ‘occlusal disharmony’ or incorrect teeth positioning, and that a lesser percent of youth face malocclusion that mandates treatment. However, other studies show a direction connection between the duration of breastfeeding among young kids and occlusion.

It is seen that the longer children are breastfed, the better will their teeth positioning. Contrary to that is the practice of bottle-feeding alongside said bad habits of kids that may cause malocclusion. A tall mouth palate might affect occlusion in children and influence their breathing process in the near future. It may also narrow down the upper teeth arch and lead to a cross-bite, a form of malocclusion or misalignment of teeth’s arches.

As the mouth’s roof also happens to be the floor of the nasal cavity, an increase in the palate’s height reduces the nasal cavity’s size. This reduction of the nasal cavity may lead to resistance of airway via the nose. High palate may cause narrowing of the skull opening at the nose’s back known as choanae.

A narrow opening result in a much smaller opening into soft tissues of the nasal airway, and the narrow is the opening of the airway, the adverse would be the risk of airway collapsing and snoring. In order to avoid such instances, it is best to practice breastfeeding children at a young age so that OSA and snoring can be avoided with caution.

Why Sleep Apnea Patients Should Stay Away from Dust Mites

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Sleep Apnea And Dust Mites

If your surroundings at bedroom have dust particles, which are invisible, it may aggravate asthma or snoring. That is because the particles enter the lungs through the respiratory tract or to the sinuses through nasal airways, thus triggering breathing difficulties. That is why you may need to consider using air purifiers for filtering particles and airborne dirt so that nighttime breathing becomes relatively easier to you. In fact, doing this is a good hygiene practice, which will lessen snoring and bring about a peaceful sleep.

The purifier’s design will also eventually determine the particle size it can filter from the air. For instance, an air purifier featuring a paper filter would filter the large particles from the atmosphere, but if you have allergies or are living with someone who smokes, consider choosing one featuring a HEPA filter to trap minuscule particles.

Even if you are living in an atmosphere free of smoke, you might still come across pollutants in the air. Thus, it is important to keep the surroundings at home free of dust particles to prevent snoring due to allergies altogether. In addition to that, if smoke or pollen exists at home it might collect plenty of germs and dust which may potentially aggravate respiratory conditions.

House dust mites cause blockages in the respiratory tract. Moreover, the majority of people suffering from hay fever stay allergic to dust mites at home while a few stay allergic to pet danders. Therefore, inhaling dust mite can be dangerous for those having allergies and can worsen the asthma symptoms often referred to as ‘asthma attacks’.

This happens due to mucus tightening up around the airways even as other symptoms of asthma including sneezing, cough and postnasal drip may also worsen. Dust mites at home can be the underlying cause of a runny nose occurring throughout a year in an asthma patient. Stuffy nose can also worsen apnea and snoring and thereby aggravate the asthma symptoms.

However, if you use precautionary measures such as air purifiers, you can reduce the microscopic dirt in the surrounding air and maintain an adequate air quality for better breathing. Reducing the air pollution will lessen the allergy symptoms making breathing at all the more easy to you. Besides that, reducing the swelling of nasal passageway and the stuffy nose caused by the airborne allergies can potentially affect how your snoring lessens.

What Is a Home Sleep Study for Sleep Apnea

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Home Sleep Study

As the name implies, a home sleep study is an unattended test being conducted in a person’s home to diagnose the probability of mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea. The sleep disorder is characterized by breathing difficulties and loud snoring at night. People having apnea experience in difficulties in breathing due to a receding tongue problem.

If the home sleep study does not suggest the apnea chances, then a laboratory test may be needed to confirm the probability of apnea. Generally, people suffering from respiratory issues, neuromuscular diseases, or obstructive pulmonary diseases are ideal candidates for an in-lab study. If you are in good health but fear that the sleep disorder is affecting your sleep, you should get the home sleep study first.

How Home Sleep Apnea Test Works

Devices used in home sleep steady analyze the sleep patterns, breathing, and oxygen levels in the blood and diagnose sleep apnea. Devices for home sleep study are given by a sleep center to the patient’s home and have wires and motion sensors that measure the same. Some of the devices may also record loud snoring and your sleep posture. Sleep pathologists from sleep centers would tell you how to place the device for the sleep apnea test, and how to operate it. The test may take from 1 to 3 nights or more. The patient can get the proposed remedies for snoring and OSA following a discussion with the doctor.

Another option to diagnose the probability of loud snoring is by using mobile applications in sleep. Such kinds of apps can be downloaded for free and let you self-measure sleep patterns and breathing patterns and then discuss the health matter over with medics.

Remedies for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Some of the proposed remedies for mild to moderate OSA include the Mandibular Advancement Device often referred to as the mouthpiece for sleep apnea. The anti-snoring mouthpiece is worn on the lower jaw and it would keep the tongue forward for a better flow of air and is one of the non-invasive snoring remedies that can heal sleep apnea.

Why Try Proactive Remedies to Clear Obesity and Sleep Apnea

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Proactive Remedies For Obesity

There have been indications that Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA may induce a pre-diabetic state in people that is characterized by lethargic sleep, impulsive eating, lapses in concentration, breathing cessations in sleep, and even loud snoring.

When you have OSA, your body starts to react to the lethargy in sleep that may affect the insulin resistance. The human body uses glucose for energy and the insulin is needed for sustained energy throughout a day’s schedule. However, insulin resistance induces higher blood sugar levels in people.

Diabetes happens especially when the cells become unable to use insulin due to insulin resistance – the body being unable to produce enough insulin for proper functioning so to speak. When insulin becomes inactive, the blood sugar levels increase in the body, which may harm the nerves, the heart, the eyes, or even the kidneys.

Extensive researches on OSA have found that sleep deprivation at night may reduce our insulin sensitivity, just the same as following a high-fat diet for half a year. This shows the importance of getting enough sleep in maintaining the blood sugar levels and lessening the risk of metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity.

The fat buildup at the back of the neck in an obese person is one of the reasons for the cessations in breathing and also loud snoring at night. Therefore, you should exercise to lose weight and thereby cure loud snoring and cut back obesity. In fact, being obese may induce snoring also, so reducing excess weight is a must for the betterment of health for everyone.

As for OSA patients, the doctors study the sleep patterns of the patient and suggest various remedies besides doing exercises and making other lifestyle changes in the routine courses.

Even as the requirement of sleep differs from individual to individual, around 7 to 8 hours of sleep is termed sufficient for an adult on an average basis. Once OSA gets diagnosed, there are advanced remedies like the mouthpiece for sleep apnea which can be worn at night for freeing up the partial airway blockages in the back of the throat.

Getting adequate sleep at night is the ultimate objective of using the mouthpiece for sleep apnea and the improvement of health. Once you stop snoring using the Mandibular Advancement Device, you sleep better and stay healthier for days on end.

How to Stop Snoring and Sleep Apnea if you are Obese

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Sleep Apnea And Obesity

An apnea patient tends to encounter breathing difficulties at night and snores when they reach Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep stage. While allergies, a deviated septum, or a malformed soft tissue in the throat may also disrupt sleep, excess weight and obesity is another known factor to affect the nighttime breathing process. Many of us know that obesity affects human metabolism and may create snoring. However, the overweight condition may also trigger a sleep disorder like sleep apnea.

The excessive tissue around the neck and loss of muscle tone in the upper airway of the throat are what induces snoring in obese people. That is why apnea researchers suggest weight reduction and improving better muscle tone by exercising regularly as a means to reduce obesity and chances of recurring apnea episodes at night.

An eight-hour nighttime sleep is ideal normally, but an apnea patient may encounter overnight fatigue and may sleep during the day as well. However, if you couple the positional therapy with daily exercises and diet, you can sleep better and on the right time. An individual, who finds it tough to reduce weight and encounters difficulties in changing the diet, tends to choose alternative remedies for sleep apnea like changing the sleep position or using an anti snoring device. Yet again, the quality of nighttime sleep will determine the eating habits and diet in an obese person.

Some apnea patients tend to snore when they sleep on the back also known as the supine position. The position may cause sleep apnea episodes especially in the REM state. An ideal positional therapy deals with changing the supine position to sleeping on left or right side. This will open up the upper airway in the throat, will stop snoring and improves the sleep in obese people. However, if you have mild to moderate obtrusive sleep apnea, then sleeping on the stomach (prone position) may reduce snoring and may improve the sleep patterns to left side sleeping.

One of the drawbacks of sleeping in the prone position is that people tend to encounter a sour neck and even back pain in the morning. In such cases, raising the head by six inches or so with a stop snoring pillow can be tried to address the condition and improve sleep with no pain. A mouthpiece for sleep apnea will also cure snoring just like the positional therapy. If you are obese, needless to say, exercising is a must alongside trying alternate remedies.

3 Common Types of Snoring

Countless people in the country experience snoring and related issues but the sad part is that only a few of these people try to find out the causes of snoring and treat it with proper measures. Many affected people even believe that this issue will pass away gradually, but that is not a wise thing to do.

If you don’t identify the main culprit behind your snoring and get medical help, you may gradually fall prey to other serious health conditions. So, if you wish to avoid such dangerous situations, get in touch with a health care provider and get immediate help. Below are a few different classifications of snoring.

Nasal Snoring

In most cases, the phenomenon of nasal snoring occurs when the nasal passages of a person are blocked. The blockage of nasal passages results in the flow of an increasing amount of air through the mouth, which in turn produces vibrations and forces you to snore. If you are suffering from ailments such as flu, colds, or allergies, then the chances of experiencing nasal snoring are higher.

Mouth Snoring

Mouth snoring happens due to the vibration of the soft palate and tissues in the throat. This type of snoring is commonly seen in people who breathe through their mouth when they are asleep. If you are such a person, then you must try not to sleep flat on your back, as that would increase the rate of snoring and deprive you of a good night’s sleep.

Tongue Snoring

Your tongue often restricts or blocks the airflow to your lungs and in turn forces you to snore. The tissues in your throat and mouth usually stay relaxed when you sleep. Same way, your tongue is also in the relaxing state but the issue is that it often rolls back to the back of your throat and causes snoring. Tongue snoring is very common among alcohol drinkers and smokers and it can be reduced to a certain extent by avoiding heavy alcohol consumption and by quitting smoking.

If you are still unable to decide what kind of snorer you are, it is best to get medical help and diagnose the cause of the issue. You must also consider about buying an anti snoring mouthpiece and use them regularly to stop snoring. However, you will also have to make a few lifestyle changes for better results.