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If your sleeping partner keeps you awake at night with loud snoring, you had better have them read this article. It could save their life! Actually, snoring may not be the life threatening condition, but it can be a symptom of a serious health problem called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
According to the American Sleep Apnea Association, more than 12 million Americans suffer from OSA, and it is estimated that 10 million more have yet to be diagnosed. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by frequent loud snoring and recurrent failures to breathe adequately during sleep because of a full or partial collapse of the upper airway.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea can adversely affect your mood, your appetite, your sex drive and your relationships. It is most commonly associated with excessive daytime sleepiness, the cause of many on the job and motor vehicle accidents. If left untreated, it has been associated with high blood pressure, increased risk of congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, heart attack, cardiac arrhythmias, diabetes, stroke and even death.
If you are concerned that you (or someone you sleep with) may have symptoms of OSA such as frequent loud snoring, waking up choking or gasping and/or excessive daytime sleepiness, you should seek the advice of a sleep physician. Diagnosing OSA is confirmed by a sleep study conducted by a physician trained in sleep medicine and is often covered by medical insurance benefits.
Historically, OSA is treated with the use of a CPAP machine. This medical device maintains Continuous Positive Airway Pressure by connecting you to an air pump with a nose/mouth mask while you sleep. It has been shown to be very effective in improving the symptoms of OSA. Many people love them and enjoy an unbelievably improved quality of life because of the restful sleep it facilitates. Others, however, find that CPAP is too restrictive and uncomfortable, so many patients are not compliant.
Different treatment options might include various surgical procedures intended to open the airway by removing excess tissue. This too has obvious risks or drawbacks and should be discussed with your doctor.
One significant change in treatment protocols occurred in 2006, when the American Academy of Sleep Medicine changed its guidelines. They stated that sleep physicians could refer patients with mild to moderate OSA to dentists for oral appliance therapy in lieu of the previous standard methods of CPAP therapy or surgery.
In terms comfort and compliance, oral appliances are a vast improvement over CPAP masks that can be claustrophobic and uncomfortable because they cover the patient’s nose and/or mouth. In addition, as medical insurance companies have increased their coverage of oral appliances, physicians are prescribing an increasing number of these appliances, and more and more patients are seeking treatment from their dentists.
Although there are many different brands of oral appliances, all of them serve the same basic function: to keep the soft tissue from collapsing the airway and interrupting normal breathing patterns.
For more information on snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, you can visit:
Next time you visit your dentist, ask if they can help save your life.
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