Solutions to Many Sleep Apnea Problems

Sleep apnea is much more common than many people think. It occurs during regular sleep times so it is very hard to detect. Sleep apnea is a period of anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes when a sleeping person’s airway collapses, and they stop breathing. It can happen once, twice or more than thirty times in a single hour of sleep. These moments of apnea cause many problems for the sufferer. Sleep apnea interrupts deep sleep so the person suffering from it never feels rested. The poor sleep creates a feeling of fatigue during the day, clouded mind and even poor judgment. At its worst, sleep apnea is even deadly. Why Sleep Is Important Besides the possibility of heart attack and death associated with breathing cessation, there are other medical reasons to solve problems of sleep apnea. Studies show that sleep apnea is a contributing factor to many other diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and obesity. Sleep apnea can also be responsible for poor job performance, traffic accidents, headaches, impotency and a host of other problems that might never be resolved if the sleep apnea is not addressed. What Sleep Clinics Do A sleep clinic can help patients determine if their symptoms of fatigue, loud snoring, periods of being jolted awake are caused by sleep apnea. At the sleep clinic each patient will be under the supervision of a sleep doctor, or qualified technicians. During the tests the patient is connected to machines that read out various vital signs during the period of sleep. Each patient will have to spend an amount of time sleeping at the clinic, usually one or two nights. The electrodes that connect the patient to the machine are non-invasive and cause no discomfort whatsoever. After the test is complete a physician who is an experienced sleep doctor will get the results to make the proper determinations. Solutions for Sleep Apnea Once a sleep clinic patient is discovered to have sleep apnea a sleep doctor will work with the patient to determine the best course of action. In very mild cases patients may be able to manage apnea with lifestyle changes, changes in diet or by maintaining a better sleeping position. In other cases the problem of sleep apnea may be serious enough to warrant further intervention, but mild enough to allow a patient to simply wear a snoring device. A sleep doctor can determine if stopping the problem from occurring by having the patient wear an anti-snoring mouth guard. The best of these devices are fitted by a dentist that specializes in oral prosthetics. A sleep clinic may be able to provide a patient with appropriate snoring devices that will suffice until they can get fitted for a permanent device. The most common course of treatment a sleep doctor will prescribe is wearing a CPAP. CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. It consists of a small, portable machine that plugs into a nearby electrical socket and has a hose connected to a pump. The pump produces pressurized air through the hose up to a face mask worn by the patient when sleeping. The face mask is a clear plastic cup that fits over the nose and mouth and held in place with an adjustable harness that fits around the head. The CPAP device forces air into the lungs keeping the airways open and prohibiting apnea.