YOUR BODY: DEALING WITH A SNORING PARTNER
Notes by Dr. Norman Blumenstock Remember that a sleep test to rule obstructive sleep apnea either in or out should be done first to know what is being treated. BY ABC News Radio | July 15, 2016 By DR. JENNIFER ASHTON, ABC News Senior Medical Contributor Does your partner’s snoring keep you up all night? If so, you’re not alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation, snoring affects about 90 million adults. Snoring can be more than just annoying noise — it can be associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is a serious issue that may need …
Sleep Apnea Is A Craniofacial Problem
As a resident during otolaryngology training, I rotated in the medical center’s craniofacial clinic, seeing various disorders that lead to underdeveloped or malformed facial or skull structures. These syndromic children clearly had severely asymmetric faces or underformed jaws. In many cases they had breathing problems requiring surgery. One of the more common conditions you’ll see in such a clinic is Pierre Robin sequence, where due to improper maturation of the lower jaw, the lower chin is recessed severely. You’ll see milder variations of this all the time, but if severe enough, these people can’t breathe, especially at night. Treating …
Chronic Stress Test
Published on July 31, 2015 Avram R. Gold, MD, links sleep-disordered breathing to functional somatic syndromes and anxiety disorders via an out of the box paradigm. The iconoclast posits a connection via hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation, a theory that moves away from commonly held beliefs. By Cassandra Perez | Photography by Christopher Appoldt As Avram R. Gold, MD, sees it, the link between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and functional somatic syndromes (FSS) and anxiety disorders is evident from recent sleep literature. But the medical director at Stony Brook University (SBU) Sleep Disorders Center does not buy into the commonly held belief …
Do you have sinus problems?
By Dr. DONALD JOHNSON/Northwest Treatment Center for Snoring & Sleep Apnea | Posted 1 week ago You’ve gone to your primary care doctor and you’ve been prescribed multiple courses of antibiotics which stopped working. You’ve gone to an ear nose, & throat surgeon and you’ve been prescribed more antibiotics, allergy meds, and decongestants which also stopped working. You’ve even had a CAT scan of your sinuses which came back normal. Your symptoms can be interpreted as chronic sinusitis, but why was the CAT scan normal? Currently, recommendations for chronic sinusitis that antibiotics don’t help is to consider sinus surgery. But …
Prevalence of Sleep-Disordered Breathing On The Rise.
June 1, 2016 A study estimates SDB prevalence rates that are substantially higher than rates 2 decades ago, in part due to rising obesity. BY PETER BLAIS, RPSGT Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is very common—especially in middle-aged and older adults—and is associated with a wide range of negative outcomes. These outcomes include cardiovascular disease, depressed mood, cognitive deficits, accidents, and injury (among others), according to one of the authors of a recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. “Over the last two decades, SDB has become increasingly prevalent, to the point that clinicians that see several adult patients daily …
Oral rest posture: A key piece of the obstructive sleep apnea puzzle.
June 2, 2016 By Angie Lehman, RDH, COM Dental professionals are missing the chance to address obstructive sleep apnea before it even begins. In the past few years, the subject of the airway in relation to dentistry has been increasingly discussed. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and snoring are hot topics right now. There seems to be a call to action for all dental professionals to assess our patients for snoring and sleep apnea. Mandibular advancement devices and take-home sleep studies are definitely trending in the dental world. The spotlight on this issue is necessary and important. But rather than focus …
As Sleep Apnea Severity Increases, So Do Kids’ Learning Challenges.
Published on May 20, 2016 Sleep assessments in young children showed that, in the context of habitual snoring and enlarged tonsils and adenoids, moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increased the likelihood and magnitude of cognitive deficits. These deficits include, but are not limited to, problems with attention, memory, and language. The research results were presented at the ATS (American Thoracic Society) 2016 International Conference. “Although evidence suggesting the presence of cognitive deficits in children with sleep apnea has been around for quite some time, the relatively small groups studied made it difficult to demonstrate a strong relationship between …
Myofunctional Therapy: It’s All In The Tongue.
Notes from Dr. Norman Blumenstock: Myofunctional therapy is a good adjunct in treating obstructive sleep apnea. by Donna M. Rounsaville, RDH,BS The tongue’s position when swallowing can be an important indication of a person’s health, and it can impact the way they look and speak. Luckily, an abnormal tongue position can be corrected with myofunctional therapy, a specialized training process that ensures a future of good health and a pleasing smile despite having a developmental condition. This form of therapy is a method of exercising the mouth and facial muscles to correct a deviated swallow – often referred to …
Dementia screening tool may help identify obstructive sleep apnea.
April 22, 2016 A unique pattern on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neurophysical Status test was able to identify patients with obstructive sleep apnea, according to research presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting. Amber Gerber, PsyD, LP, and Donn Dexter, MD, both with the Mayo Clinic Health System, wrote in their abstract that obstructive sleep apnea, which is a common and remediable condition, is a risk factor for cognitive dysfunction. “One in five geriatric patients referred to the Memory Care Clinic at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, Wis., have obstructive sleep apnea,” Gerber …
Large Tonsils and Tongue Indicate Apnea Risk
10 Mar 2016 Dentistry Today | Industry News Dentists can’t diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). But they can look for oversized tonsils and tongue indentations, which are teeth imprints that indicate that the tongue is too large for the mouth. Patients with these symptoms face an elevated risk for OSA and should be referred to a sleep specialist, according to Thikriat Al-Jewair, clinical assistant professor at the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. “Dentists see into their patients’ mouths more than physicians do, and the signs are easy to identify,” said Al-Jewair. “We need to teach students about this …
Patient Reviews
