Here’s a great report by Matt Lauer, the host on the Today Show, specific to the problems with Sleep Apnea and Snoring in America.

Once again, this report brings much needed attention to the fact that sleep apnea and snoring is an epidemic that needs to be addressed and treated in this country.

Unfortunately, the only treatment that is mentioned is CPAP, and many people are CPAP intolerant. For these apnea sufferers there are other alternatives that may include oral appliances such as the Full Breath Solution that I use in our clinics near Los Angeles and Irvine, California.

The most important point that is made is this.

Sleep apnea and snoring do not get better on their own. These conditions need to be treated. Please see a doctor, find out what your options are and don’t put it off… it may save your life or the one you love….

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder in which an individual actually stops breathing during sleep. While the person is in a relaxed sleep state, the muscles in the back of their neck and throat relax, allowing tissue from the soft palate to block the airway. This blockage triggers the brain to send constant signals to the body, causing frequent waking.

The sleep apnea cycle can be repeated hundreds if not thousands of times per night.The basic connection between the two ailments boils down to obesity. Both conditions are common in patients who are extremely overweight. In addition, these patients are more likely to suffer from insulin resistance.

Research has shown that the upper airway obstruction caused by sleep apnea can lead to a condition known as oxygen desaturation. This desaturation increases certain hormone levels such as cortisol, which causes increased insulin resistance. Increased cortisol levels are also common in diabetic patients. When levels are elevated, the body does not function properly and can create serious metabolic issues.

Cortisol is responsible for, proper glucose metabolism, regulation of blood pressure, insulin release for blood sugar maintenance and a variety of other biological functions. Another cortisol connection is the fact that it is often released when the body is under stress. A time of stress for the apnea sufferer is likely when the brain senses it is not receiving enough oxygen. To reduce the serious complications that sleep apnea and diabetes present, it is important to be aware of the symptoms of the conditions.

While not every sleep apnea sufferer is diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, having the condition puts you at greater risk of developing this and other serious aliments. In the end frequent monitoring and communicating health changes to your doctor are crucial to receiving the correct treatments and best possible patient care.

Traditional treatments with CPAP, though effective, has a high rate (over 60%) of patients that are intolerant to wearing the masks for a variety of reasons. As Dr. Ulysses Magalang, a sleep expert with Ohio State University Medical Center points out in the video segment, new alternative treatments are needed. New treatments like oral appliance such as the FDA approved Full Breath Solution, have over an 85% success rate.

Please do not hesitate to leave a comment or contact me directly at 888-31-SNORE

We’ve known the purpose of our other biological drives for hundreds of years: we eat to give our bodies energy, we drink to keep hydrated, we procreate to perpetuate the species – among other things. But what is the biological purpose of sleep?

It turns out no one really knows for sure. As correspondent Lesley Stahl reports, why we sleep is one of the biggest unanswered questions in all of science, which is why researchers all over the country are doing studies and coming up with some new and intriguing discoveries.
“We don’t sleep just to rest our tired bodies?” Stahl asks Matthew Walker, the director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Well, that’s been one of the long-standing theories. But I think what we’re starting to understand is that sleep serves a whole constellation of functions, plural,” Walker explains.

One thing that’s clear, says Walker, is that sleep is critical. In a series of studies done back in the 1980s, rats were kept awake indefinitely. After just five days, they started dying.”

The 60 Minutes piece also points out that research showed that patients that were sleep deprived and did not enter into REM (deep restorative sleep) were “pre diabetic” after only 5 days and found themselves ravenously hungry because there is a lack of a chemical in the brain that tells the body that it doesn’t need any more food. It shows us that lack of sleep can be a crucial part of the diabetes and obesity problems we are facing.

There are several other fascinating points made related to drowsy driving and several well known accidents. A National Institute of Health study done at the University of Pennsylvania by David Dinges, the scientist in charge, shared that “Studies show that all of that stuff people tend to do – slapping themselves in the face, rolling the window down, radio up, singing – they’re convinced it helps. But it’s only a matter of seconds or minutes. And you can have a sudden sleep attack right in the midst of doing that,” Dinges says.

And it’s not just driving. Dinges has examined, sometimes as an expert witness, the role of inadequate sleep in some of the world’s most well-known accidents.

He thinks inadequate sleep may have contributed to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Chernobyl, the Three Mile Island disaster and the 2003 Staten Island ferry crash.

60 Minutes checked. The Exxon Valdez spill happened after midnight with a man at the helm who’d slept only four hours the night before; Chernobyl and Three Mile Island also occurred late at night and involved human error. And the assistant captain who crashed the Staten Island ferry into a pier, killing 11, admitted that he felt exhausted before the accident.

As a doctor who treats sleep apnea and snoring, I see this many patients who are pre-diabetic, exhausted and at risk of heart attacks and strokes. Many of these symptoms and risk factors are reduced if treated.

Let’s face it. We all need our sleep. (and if you snore…so does your spouse…) Get treatment. Don’t put it off.

The enitre article is located at 60 Minutes-The Science of Sleep.

Recently while I was checking out some videos on YouTube, I found a cool video of a TV talk show …informative yet entertaining. Just a short post to point you to it:

Sleep Apnea Gets Air Time

Because Sleep Apnea and Snoring are such under-diagnosed problems, and the average person may think it’s just “Loud Snoring”, it is great to see the press and TV giving it much needed air time..no pun intended…

It’s also refreshing to see many of the alternative treatments being presented in a quick easy to understand format..great job from the folks at iVillage Live.com.