Do you wake up every morning fully rested and ready to start your day?

If you answered yes, then you have many reasons to be thankful. Millions of Americans do not get the sleep they need; in fact, 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders.

The first signs of lack of sleep:

• Irritability
• Moodiness
• Reduced Inhibition

Lack of sleep becomes more serious, when you are not able to catch these warning signs and get the rest you need.

A few signs of continued lack of sleep:

• Lapse in attention
• Dozing off during activity: work, reading and even driving
• Impaired Memory
• Apathy

You may notice yourself being forgetful, or irritable, but what you may not notice are the hidden signs.  These signs are life-threatening, including: hypertension and increased risk of strokes, weight-gain, erectile dysfunction and much more.

What can you do to help yourself get the sleep you need? Set a sleep pattern for yourself and get yourself into a regular sleep routine.  Start with the minimum of 7 hours for a consecutive week.  If you awake unrested, add 30 minutes each night until you notice your alertness return.

If you believe you may be suffering from a sleep disorder, please, consult with you physician and let him/her know your concerns.

Make changes today to give yourself a better day tomorrow. Call our office in Northern Illinois 1-800-SNORING OR 630 369-5508, or visit our website: http://www.tiredofsnoring.com/ for more information on how we can help you get the sleep you need.

During snoring muscles relax in the back of the throat narrowing the airway to a smaller opening.  As you breathe in your sleep, air is forced through this smaller opening causing vibrations known as snoring.

Although snoring may be harmless (benign snoring), it can also be a sign of a more serious medical condition which progresses from Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS) to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA (OSA): During an apnea event

• The muscles in the throat relax and the tongue is sucked against the throat blocking the airway.
• The entire upper airway is blocked causing air flow to stop.
• Air (and oxygen) cannot flow into the lungs.
• When the oxygen level in the brain becomes low enough, the sleeper partially awakens, the obstruction in the throat clears, and the flow of air starts again – usually with a loud gasp or snort.
• People with untreated apnea are generally not aware of the awakenings but only of being sleepy during the day.
• Loud snoring, mixed with periods of silence (apnea), is typical but is not always present, especially in children.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a life threatening and life altering condition that causes a person to stop breathing repeatedly during sleep. The oxygen deprivation that results can trigger severe health problems. The restless sleep that also results from OSA affects the quality of life of individuals. The bed partner’s sleep can also be disrupted by his or her partner’s snoring, pauses in breathing and restless sleep.

Visit our website to learn more about the Health Consequences of untreated sleep apnea!

Do you wonder how well you are sleeping?

Is your room set up for the best night of sleep possible?  We often give tips on how to arrange your room in the best way for optimal sleep.

Today, one of our oral appliance patients at Dental Sleep and TMD Center of Illinois sent us the following link to share with our others that suffer from poor sleep.

BBC Sleep Site

Try out the short test to give you a sleep profile.  They make excellent suggestions to help you change your habits to give you a better night’s sleep.

Not sure if you are alert enough to get behind the steering wheel? Scroll down the BBC site, and try out the Sheep Dash test. This VERY short test will give you your reaction to stimulus time and might make you rethink getting behind the wheel.

If you snore, or suffer from sleep apnea, I urge you to see your physician and discuss your personal situation.  Sleep is essential to your health, when you take the time to improve your quality of sleep, you will improve your overall health.

There are alternative options to a CPAP machine.

Many sleep apnea sufferers are not given an option.

If you are like Mike, or Molly, visit our website:  www.TiredofSnoring.com and learn more about the #1 alternative to CPAP – Oral Appliance Therapy.

Dental Sleep and TMD Center of Illinois would love to help you and your bed partner get a good night’s sleep, CPAP-Free.

Archive for Monday, November 15, 2010

Monday Medical: Sleep apnea linked to diabetes

“Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.”— Thomas Dekker (1572-1632)

Sleep — it’s more important than you think. Healthy sleep has numerous benefits, while sleep disorders have been linked to everything from drowsy driving to diabetes.

Research has shown that as many as 80 percent of white males with Type 2 diabetes also have sleep apnea, which can be a serious disorder. Although Type 2 diabetes puts people at higher risk for heart disease and stroke, adding sleep apnea on top of it multiplies that risk even more.

We are just now discovering how crucial sleep is to our health and well-being. Accor­­ding to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, sleep helps us improve learning, memory and mood, while lack of sleep causes slower thinking, confusion and difficulty focusing.  CONTINUE