April 2010 Newsletter
Sleep, Interrupted
"9 holistic ways to treat obstructive sleep apnea"
Have you ever wonder if you suffer from sleep apnea?
Ask yourself these questions:
· Do you regularly feel un-refreshed, even after waking from a full night’s sleep?
· Do you fall asleep easily during your waking hours, while at home or at work?
· Are you a loud, habitual snorer?
· Has your bed partner witnessed you choking, gasping, or holding your breath during sleep?
· Do you often suffer from poor concentration or judgment, memory loss, irritability and/or depression?
If you answered yes then you may be suffering from sleep apnea or another sleep disorder. This condition exists in two forms: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common type, and central sleep apnea, a rarer version caused by nervous-system problems. With OSA the upper airway becomes obstructed, usually because the throat muscles that keep the airway stiff relax too much, collapse, and block breathing. The brain senses the drop in blood-oxygen levels and briefly wakes you up to kick-start breath. An ‘apnea,” or cessation of breath, typically lasts 10 to 20 seconds and occurs 20 to 30 times an hour.
Because you wake up briefly, you typically don’t remember it. For that reason, many people go undiagnosed. Nonetheless, more than 12 million Americans suffer from the condition, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, irritability, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, frequent nocturnal urination, and lowered libido. If these symptoms sound all too familiar it’s time to consult your doctor, because sleep apnea carries serious health ramifications as well. The condition starves your body of oxygen.
In response, the body releases stress hormones that strain your heart; your metabolism changes, making you more insulin resistant; and you miss out on sleep’s rejuvenating effects, impairing immunity, memory formation, and repair of muscles and other tissues.
No wonder, that research has shown undiagnosed sleep apnea increases the risk of heart disease including heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, depression, and more. In fact, sleep apnea nearly doubles the risk of premature death, according to a 2009 John Hopkins study.
Several factors increase your chances for sleep apnea from weight gain to excess throat tissue. Most sleep apnea suffers exhibit more than one cause, so you have to address them all to find the right cure.
Many doctors first try to treat the conditions dental appliance, such as a mouth guard like device that holds the jaw forward, or retainer that prevents the tongue from flopping back. Another type of device used to treat sleep apnea is Continuous positive airway pressure or (CPAP), which uses a noise mask to deliver pressurized air in the airway, preventing it from collapsing. CPAP is almost always effective, but it can cause dry or stuff nose, headaches, and trouble sleeping, which is why less than 50 percent of patients continue to use them. A conventional remedy is surgery to cut away oversized tissues like the soft palate.
Fortunately, science-backed alternative options exist to treat sleep apnea. Bear in mind, however, that since the root causes behind sleep apnea vary, a remedy that cures one person might do nothing for another. Experiment with some or all of these, and see which work for you.
1. Trim down. Shedding about 10 percent of your body weight can send sleep apnea into total to near total remission. In fact, just losing just 5 to 10 pounds improves symptoms, while gaining 5 to 10 pounds worsens them.
2. Avoid alcohol. As a sedative, alcohol deepens sleep, relaxing the muscles and making them more prone to collapse. It also depresses breathing and makes it harder for your brain to rouse you from sleep, so the apneas become more frequent and severe. Avoid alcohol six hours or more before sleep.
3. Quit smoking. Cigarettes increase the swelling in the upper airway and thereby exacerbate sleep apnea.
4. Clear your sinuses. If your nose is chronically stuffy, identify the potential allergens in your environment or intolerances in your diet.
5. Quell inflammation. Low levels of inflammation are normal: When you have a cold or cut your finger the immune system produces inflammatory cells to fight infection of heal the wound. Diets high in fat, sugar or processed foods, and sedentary lifestyle can cause chronic inflammation. That has been linked to sleep apnea.
6. Strengthen your throat muscles. The muscles of the airway are like the muscles in the arm or leg. They can get weak without proper exercise or with age. When that happens, the airway structures don’t stay in their proper anatomical position and collapse into the air passageway. By strengthening, toning, and reeducating the airway musculature, including the tongue, jaw, lips, and soft palate, you can alleviate or even eliminate, the condition.
7. Try acupuncture. A 2009 study at the Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine found that three to five acupuncture sessions a week, for a total of 30 sessions, reduce the number of apneas each night.
8. Sleep on your side. Lying on your back makes it easier for the tongue and other tissues to fall back and block the airways. Some sleep apnea suffers even sew a pocket into the back of their pajamas and place a tennis ball in it to prevent themselves from rolling onto their backs. Elevating your head with extra pillows may also help.
9. Get moving. A four month exercise program (3 60 minute session per week) significantly reduced the severity of obstructive sleep apnea, most likely by improving the function of blood vessels and nerves including those that regulate breathing.
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