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Sleep
Apnea Cures - Medical and Natural Approaches
in
Management of Sleep Apnea
The goal of Sleep Apnea Cures
is to prevent apneas during sleep by keeping the airway open.
In
recent years researchers developed new
effective sleep apnea treatments that add new options to other
well
established treatments used by the people suffering from this sleep
disorder.
The
treatment regimen
depends on many factors such as the cause of obstruction, an
individual’s medical history and the severity of the disorder.
The first step is to engage certain behaviors
that are helpful in managing sleep
apnea. They are:
- healthy lifestyle with regular exercise
- weight reduction for those who are overweight
- avoiding alcohol and smoking
- avoiding sedatives and narcotics because they
slow down the activity of breathing muscles and may contribute to
worsening of
disorder
- avoiding sleeping on the back
- elevating the head of the bed by a few inches
makes a difference for some people
While improving one's lifestyle is always recommended,
behavioral changes will not cause sleep apnea to go away immediately.
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More serious sleep apnea cases are treated with
a CPAP
device, which stands for a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. It
involves wearing a mask over the nose during sleep. Air from
an air
compressor is forced through the mask into nasal passages and into the
airway to keep it open during sleep.
Other
sleep apnea cures include certain surgical
procedures removing
excess tissue at the back of the throat, enlarged tonsils or adenoids,
nasal polyps or other blockages of the airway and creating an opening
in the windpipe (tracheotomy), which permits air to flow easier into
the lungs during sleep.
Specifically, the most often performed
surgeries for sleep apnea are:
- UPPP - uvulopalatopharyngoplasty - the goal of
this
procedure is to tighten tissue in the throat and palate.
- Diathermy Palatoplasty - this procedure is
used to
remove the excess of bulky tissue in the throat.
- Nasal surgery to straighten a deviated septum
- LAUP - laser-assisted uvuloplasty
Surgical procedures are only about 50% effective in eliminating apneas
and are not recommended in every case. The patient has to be well
informed about all possible advantages and risks before any decision is
made.
Nonsergical
sleep apnea treatments include:
- Dental
appliances which manage the position of the tongue and the lower jaw.
There are quite a few different devices to chose from. They are not as
effective as the CPAP machine but may bring some relief and improvement
in the quality of sleep. They are also much less invasive than surgery.
- Drugs suppressing REM sleep. The downside is
that
sleep
without the REM phase is not complete and leaves the body and mind not
fully rested.
- Treatment of nasal obstruction –
decongestants.
- Supplemental oxygen and the drug protriptyline
benefit some people.
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For more information on sleep apnea check also:
What
is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep
Apnea Symptoms
Mechanics
of Sleep Apnea
Sleep
Apnea Machines
CPAP
Machines Operation
Advanced
CPAP Machines
Sleep
Study
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Or search
here for more on sleep apnea and sleep apnea cures:
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Untreated sleep apnea can greatly affect daytime
functioning. Rarely,
the
only daytime hint of the nocturnal turmoil may be a sense of having
slept poorly. But far more often, the person is aware in many ways that
all is not right.
Awakening is often accompanied by a
fierce headache, which lessens in an hour or two. But the person may
remain irritable and forgetful, often finding it difficult to
concentrate throughout the rest of the day. Interest in sex may wane,
and the
person may become depressed.
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