Jul 27, 2010 | Continuous Positive Airway Pressure CPAP
Sleep Apnea is a disorder that commonly affects more than 12 million people in the United States. While the exact cause of remains unclear, what’s known is that the site of obstruction in most patients is the soft palate, including the area at the base of the tongue.
During the day, muscles in the region keep the passage open and clear; but since there’s no bone or cartilage in this area to hold the airway open, when a person with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) falls asleep, the muscles relax and the airway collapses.
Besides interrupting sleep and causing disorientation and “fogginess” during the waking hours, the dangers to overall health are many.
The primary risk factors for OSA are:
Excessive Weight – The accumulation of fat on the sides of the upper airway cause it to become narrow and predisposed to closure when the muscles relax.
Age – Loss of muscle mass is a common consequence of the aging process, leaving the airway narrow and soft. Men have a greater risk for OSA.
Male Hormones – Testosterone can cause structural changes in the upper airway.
Other risk factors include: A receding chin… Enlarged tonsils and adenoids… Use of drugs that affect the Central Nervous System (CNS) such as alcohol, tranquilizers, etc. … Smoking … Chronic nasal congestion… and several syndromes such as hypothyroidism, post-polio syndrome, neuromuscular disorders, Marfan’s syndrome, and Down syndrome, to name a few. Although to date there is no hard data to confirm this theory, it’s also believed that there’s a genetic factor involved.
The signs and symptoms of OSA are many and varied and many are not overtly medical. (For example, non-restorative sleep leads to such things as car accidents, bad moods, memory problems, depression and even impotence.)
Some common signs that you may have OSA are:
Loud Snoring – This is perhaps the most common sign that a person’s airway is obstructed, and the complaint that initially brings many undiagnosed OSA patients to their doctors for help. Not everyone who snores has sleep apnea, but if other signs are present, as well, it’s a distinct possibility.
Excessive Daytime Sleepiness – Some people with OSA fall asleep while reading or watching TV. Others experience powerful urges to doze off even in a stimulating environment, such as while driving or during business meetings – even while having sex!
Unrefreshing Sleep – Many OSA patients complain of waking up feeling as if they had been awake all night (usually, they have been, in fact). Then, if they try to refresh themselves with a nap, they usually feel worse after napping than they did before.
Drowsiness While Driving – Statistics show that many car accidents are caused by drivers either nodding off at the wheel or else being too sleepy to be alert.
Morning Headaches – Frequent, unexplained headaches are a common sign of OSA.
Frequent Nighttime Urination – Getting up to use the bathroom several times a night may be caused by an apneic event.
If your doctor does diagnose OSA, then you’ll be relieved to know that a CPAP sleep apnea machine will give you relief and protection as soon as you start using it.
Don’t spend one more night at risk from the frustrating, annoying side effects – and very real dangers of Sleep Apnea! A CPAP sleep apnea machine from Kelly’s Medical will put your body and your mind at ease. Kelly’s Medical, http://www.kellysmedical.com/, is fully stocked with a complete line of home health care equipment.
Tags: apnea, Common, cpap, machine, Most, sleep, Treatment
Jul 18, 2010 | Continuous Positive Airway Pressure CPAP
Sleep apnea (or apnoea) is a surprisingly common sleep disorder characterized by a person’s breathing periodically ceasing temporarily during sleep. It can happen dozens or hundreds of times during a night, when weak muscles supporting the back of the throat allow the airway to become blocked.
More rarely what happens is the breathing signal is not sent from the brain to the diaphragm.
It is a treatable condition, with several options open to patients. The simplest and most common treatment is the use of a sleep apnea machine known as a CPAP sleep apnea machine. (CPAP is an abbreviation for Constant Positive Airway Pressure.)
Although not directly life-threatening, sleep apnea is a serious condition which has the potential to significantly affect a sufferer’s quality of life.
In normal human sleeping patterns, a person progresses through five stages of sleep, eventually going into “deep sleep.” Deep sleep is when dreaming and REM (rapid eye movement) occur and when most restorative functions happen. And you return to almost wakefulness approximately every ninety minutes. Thus, people who wake two or three times in a night are probably actually getting good quality sleep.
In cases of sleep apnea, the sufferer effectively falls unconscious in their sleep, immediately before the brain rouses the body in response to the blocked airway. One with this condition without realizing it could be going through a cycle of passing out and waking every few minutes all night long. This affects the quality of sleep in two ways.
First, oxygen deprivation is harmful to the brain at any time and makes it impossible for sleep to be restful.
Second, because the sufferer may be going through a cycle of waking and going back to sleep every few minutes, they have little opportunity for the most restful, deep sleep.
Symptoms can include snoring, a tendency to fall asleep during the day during any idle period, feeling very tired upon waking, possibly in conjunction with a morning headache, and secondary effects from the reduced quality of sleep, such as depression and anxiety, along with the associated symptoms of those conditions.
Diagnosis for sleep apnea used to be complicated, requiring a specialist’s attention, and possibly a night or two in a sleep laboratory. Fortunately, as awareness of this somewhat common condition becomes more widespread, so too have diagnosis and treatment options.
Upon consultation with a physician, you can get a sleep apnea machine that monitors your body’s vital signs during sleep by use of simple apparatus worn on the arm, allowing you to sleep in your own bed.
Because you are probably more comfortable in familiar surroundings, and the monitoring is done in the same environment you normally sleep in, the results obtained from such analysis can be more valuable to your sleep specialist or doctor.
If sleep apnea is diagnosed, there are a number of treatment options available. The most basic, if applicable, is to lose weight, as obesity is a known cause of this condition. Unfortunately, this may only lower the severity of the problem in many patients, and is not the only cause.
In any acute case, further intervention is required. One option is surgery, but again, this will not work for everyone and is an expensive and undesirable option for many people.
This leaves the most common treatment, which is the use of a sleep apnea machine known as a CPAP. A CPAP sleep apnea machine (Constant Positive Airway Pressure) is a device which has a tube worn in the mouth during sleep which provides a slight positive pressure but otherwise, allows the wearer to breathe normally.
This has the effect of keeping the airway open at all times during sleep, making for more restful, better quality sleep, and better quality of life.
There are various models of CPAP machines available. Some offer more advanced features, such as a reduction of pressure while exhaling, so you are not breathing against the flow of air so much.
Also, offered are more advanced monitoring of use, options for upgradeable firmware to keep the device current with the latest technology, and the ability to link the sleep apnea machine to your PC.
Obviously, less expensive, more basic models are available, and can be completely autonomous, requiring little further configuration by the user.
The most common treatment for this condition is the use of a sleep apnea machine or CPAP machine. Visit Kelly’s Medical Equipment & Supply at http://www.kellysmedical.com/ for more information and to see the great prices available on our wide variety of sleep apnea machines.
Tags: apnea, Helps, machine, sleep, well
Jul 05, 2010 | Continuous Positive Airway Pressure CPAP
My brother has been prescribed the CPAP and can’t tell much difference in his sleep. He is due to go for a checkup to the sleep clinic and doesn’t want to tell them this because he’s afraid they will make him go through another $1000 worth of sleep tests to adjust settings or something.
So if he can make the CPAP thing work better without having to tell the docs, it will help his health and checking account. Anybody know about this?
Thanks =D
Tags: apnea, cpap, docs', help, improve, machine, performance, sleep, Without
Sep 22, 2009 | CPAP Mask Sleep Apnea
This video introduces the new Bravo Nasal Pillow Interface CPAP Mask for use with a CPAP, BiPap, BiLevel, or Auto Adjusting CPAP machine to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea. It is a good alternative choice to the ResMed Swift mask. More videos may be viewed at www.cpap.com
Duration : 0:8:5
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Tags: apnea, bravo, breeze, cpap, cpap.com, insomnia, machine, mask, nasal, O'Donnell, obstructive, pillow, Rosie, sleep, snoring, swift
Sep 04, 2009 | Continuous Positive Airway Pressure CPAP
CPAP PRO is a CPAP mask that has no straps or headgear. Sleep in total comfort, roll side to side, and you will still awake rested and refeshed. www.cpappro.com for ordering information.
Duration : 0:2:4
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Tags: apnea, Breathing, cpap, machine, mask, pro, sleep
Aug 25, 2009 | CPAP Bipap Machines
Introduction to BiPAP Series
Duration : 0:1:30
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Tags: ABG, bipap, Breathing, care, cpap, Critical, ICU, machine, medicine, Respiratory, Therapy, ventilator
Aug 23, 2009 | CPAP Bipap Machines
An overview of two pressure sleep apnea machines.
Duration : 0:2:43
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Tags: apnea, bipap, cpap, machine, machines, sleep
Aug 19, 2009 | CPAP Bipap Machines
This video is to help people understand the process that one typically goes through to get diagnosed with sleep apnea and also to find the pressure setting ideal for that patient. More videos can be seen at www.cpap.com.
Duration : 0:5:29
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Tags: apnea, bipap, cpap, cpap.com, hypopnea, insomnia, machine, mask, O'Donnell, obstructive, Rosie, sleep, snore, snoring
Aug 17, 2009 | CPAP Bipap Machines
This video introduces the Bravo Nasal Pillow Interface CPAP Mask for use with a CPAP, BiPap, BiLevel, or Auto Adjusting CPAP machine to treat Sleep Apnea. It is a good alternative to the ResMed Swift mask. More videos can be seen at www.cpap.com
Duration : 0:8:4
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Tags: apnea, bravo, breeze, cpap, cpap.com, insomnia, machine, mask, nasal, O'Donnell, obstructive, pillow, Rosie, sleep, snoring, swift
Aug 15, 2009 | CPAP Nasal Pillows
This video is to introduce people to the New Version Breeze Nasal Pillow System made by Puritan Bennett for use with a CPAP, BiPap, BiLevel, or Auto Adjusting CPAP machine to treat Sleep Apnea. More videos can be seen at www.cpap.com
Duration : 0:2:33
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Tags: apnea, bipap, breeze, cpap, cpap.com, insomnia, machine, mask, nasal, O'Donnell, obstructive, pillow, Rosie, sleep, snoring