What is Drowsy Driving? Do you know?:
Fatigued drivers cause more than 100,00 motor vehicles crashes each year.
Drivers less than 25 years old cause 55% of drowsy driving crashes.
Being awake for 20 hours is equal to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08%, which is legally drunk. |
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 PROVENT TM
A new treatment for obstructive sleep apnea has been released by the Food and Drug Administration. PROVENT TM is a single use nasal valve system that is taped into the nostrils each night. It works by partially blocking expiratory airflow through the nose and increasing the pressure in the throat. Since this is a single use system, a new one is required each night.
Studies show PROVENT TM works in selected individuals, but not in the majority of patients, so it is not clear which patients respond to PROVENT TM or how to choose them. The published findings of physicians suggest that success, although limited, has been seen at all levels of sleep disordered breathing from those with simple loud snoring to those with a relatively high apnea-hypopnea index (even severe apnea). It is used on a trial basis and samples are given to last a few nights. If tolerated, testing is performed to insure that the breathing events resolve. Disruptive snoring is one of the conditions for which it will be most widely used. Contact your sleep physician to learn more details.
It appears that a limited number of people will be able to use PROVENT TM in place of standard positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP) for treatment of their Sleep Apnea. PROVENT TM is provided through the company's own mail order pharmacy and a prescription is required. Samples are usually available. If a person is able to wear the devices during sleep, then testing is carried out to see if the apnea is resolved. |
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 CPAP May Improve Nighttime Blood Sugar Levels
An article published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine in December 2008, suggests that people who suffer from both Obstructive Sleep Apnea and type II Diabetes show improved nighttime blood sugar levels when they use constant positive airway pressure (CPAP). CPAP is the preferred treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This was determined when Arthur Dawson, M.D., and colleagues monitored the sleep and blood sugar levels of patients with both of these diseases during two sleep studies. The blood sugar levels were measured continuously throughout the two nights of sleep. The first sleep study was done without CPAP treatment, while the second was performed after four weeks of CPAP use among the patients. The researchers discovered that in the first study when CPAP was not used, the average blood sugar level was 122.00 mg/dL (a healthy range for blood sugar is 70-100 mg/dL) and the average number of apneas and hypopneas was 63 per hour. In the second study, when CPAP had been used on all of the patients, the average blood sugar level dropped to 102.9 mg/dL and the average number of apneas and hypopneas fell to 7.9 per hour.
Most physicians know that diabetes is easier to control in an individual with Obstructive Sleep Apnea when the apnea is well treated. This important study shows the effect of untreated apnea on type II Diabetes. Previous scientific work has also demonstrated that frequent interruption of sleep during a night can lead to impaired glucose metabolism even in normal individuals. |
 Lack of Sleep May Increase Risk of Heart Disease in People with High Blood Pressure
Researchers in Japan have discovered that people with high blood pressure who sleep less than 7.5 hours a night have a 33% greater chance of having a stroke and/or a heart attack. If a person's blood pressure is elevated during the night (a common occurrence in people with sleep apnea) and they sleep less than 7.5 hours, the risk is higher. This study from the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that sleeping less than 7.5 hours a night is a predictor of heart disease in people with high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, you should be concerned about the average amount of time you allow for, or are able to, sleep per night. |
 Risk of Heart Disease May be Increased with Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea
A new study done by Dr. Malcom Kohler shows that mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea may cause a greater risk of heart disease than once thought. It has been known for some time that severe sleep apnea causes daytime tiredness and increases the risk of heart disease, but mild sleep apnea was not thought to have a very significant level of risk. The findings, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, mean that many people with mild sleep apnea also are at an increased risk for heart disease. These are individuals who are not aware that they have sleep apnea because they often do not have obvious symptoms. The study suggests that Obstructive Sleep Apnea of any degree should be effectively treated to keep the risk of heart disease low. Medicare and almost all other insurance companies do not pay for the treatment of mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea unless there are symptoms present. |
 Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children
Obstructive Sleep Apnea occurs in two to four percent of children. Enlarged tonsils are common in these children and removal of the tonsils and adenoids has become the treatment of choice for sleep apnea in children. In a paper presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology and another published in the journal Chest in Dec 2008, the value of removing tonsils and adenoids was reported. Those studies emphasize the need for follow-up evaluations of these children after surgery. While most benefited significantly, only 25-30% had normal sleep after surgery. The article in Chest suggests that tonsil and adenoid removal should continue to be the initial treatment of choice in children, and after surgery, a follow-up sleep evaluation is indicated. | |
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