Outpatient Procedure helps treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea – Part 1
People who suffer from noisy sleeping disorders are not only disturbing the sleep of family and other members of the household but may be signs of other underlying medical problems that can even be life-threatning. Traditional treatments have intranasal sprays and medication which was taken prior to sleeping that relaxed the muscles of the throat and mouth to prevent and alleviate some of the symptoms. Sadly these products had dangerous side effects that could have long lasting effects. Somnoplasty is an outpatient procedure which helps alleviate snoring by reducing the volume of tissue within the mouth to prevent them from creating noise. (Continued on the next Post)
Parent-Child Co-Sleeping Bad for Sleep Hygiene
Studies are showing that the sleep hygiene between parents and their children are so related that any unhealthy habits are carried onto their later life. Co-sleeping is a common practice for children who have gotten used to sleeping besides their parents are getting to develop higher incidences of poor sleep patterns. Children who are often fed right after a waking episode are also more likely to develop bad habits such as nightmares and other such sleep disorders that they seldom go back to sleep. Children usually sleep for around 10 hours during the night, any shorter and it could be early signs of a sleeping disorder. Co-sleeping forces the baby or child to develop a sleep habit which necessitates a parent be present for sleep to commence. The sleeping habits of parents who often sleep late can also be carried or passed onto children so if you want kids who have healthy sleep habits, practice good hygiene yourself which benefits both of you.
DNA’s relationship with sleep
Recent studies by genetic researches have shown that there is a noticeable link between sleep and the way your DNA takes shape. During the daytime when people are awake, DNA or the so-called building blocks of life are tightly coiled while at night, they are loosely wound. This gives credence to the existence of a biological clock that is encoded somewhere in our genes and is controlled and manipulated by activities such as sleep and other bodily functions. This might explain the ability of the body to loose control such as when traveling and shifting through time zones disrupting the biological clock which is highly dependent on the day and night cycle. The link may be in our genes and the Genome project has already found surprising details on how the genes that make up our DNA influence and can be changed by our habits.
Sleep Hygiene
Yep, there is such a thing as sleep hygiene, and no it has nothing to do with dirt on any part of your body. This form of treatment is given for sufferers of mild sleep disorders as a natural treatment. It is proven to solve some of the problems associated with sleep though none is effective against Narcolepsy which is more akin to drug treatment. There are also treatments that are considered to be natural meaning to drug is used in the treatment phase.
Sleep hygiene tackles mundane tasks such as waking at the same time even during weekends. Getting enough sun in the morning which doesn�t necessarily mean having to go outside but a few open windows can be enough to tell your biological clock that it is time to reset. Watching TV before bed can leave some people over-stimulated even if they don’t admit it. Steering away from caffeine and caffeinated drinks can also help get you fast to sleep. Exercise, just as long as it�s not before a few hours of sleeping time also wears out the unspent energy that might be remaining in the body. Research has proven these simple tips to be worth a try before undergoing medication so as to minimize side effects and help maintain your natural sleep abundant life.
Bed time
Sleep disorders are common to the workaholics. They cant seem to shut their brain off even at night. On the contrary, they tend to think of all kind of things when it is supposedly time to sleep and rest the day away. This is a typical problem to the over achieving generation which relies on brainwork to survive. To prevent sleeping disorders, make sure that you exhaust yourself during the day physically so that when you hit the bed, you would have been too tired to do anymore brain activities. It is also important that a regular time of sleep is imposed, irregular sleeping hours can worsen sleep disorders or actually start one. The body is used to having a certain kind of routine to follow, jeopardizing this can cause serious consequences. Hydration is also key to a good sleep. The body needs to be hydrated to shut down.
Sleep Salons and Facilities
These are now quite common more in the western world where specialized clinics or sleep clinics are put up to aid patients in getting a good nights sleep. They can even trick the human body into thinking the time is the right time to sleep by manipulating the lighting conditions and using other methods to induce sleep. Though the facility can be considered a clinic of sorts it should have a full medical staff and specially trained employees to help patients in the treatment process. A complete sleep center should have a physician, psychologist, psychiatrist and a surgeon on staff at all times to deal with any medical emergencies should they arise during the treatment sessions.
Drugs and other non-drugs medication for sleep disorders
These are usually given as a sleep aid by doctors but some do disagree with their effectivity. True to this, some medication does induce hangovers where side effects manifest themselves the next day leading to more discomfort. The dependence issue also arises when a person looses the ability to assume sleep at the prescribed dose and up’s the ante’ a notch in hopes of getting the same effect from the same medication without medical supervision. Another thing to consider is that, medications are still a temporary solution and that it would be best to find the underlying cause and treat it from there.
SIDS : A Parent’s Worst Nightmare
SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is a disorder by which infants under the age of one suddenly die without any underlying cause. This phenomena has eluded explanation by the experts and studies are still underway why the even t does happen. There are tips on how to prevent this and this should start before ht e child leaves the health facility where it was born. Information about the disorder and how to try and avoid it should be asked from the Nurses and doctors to give you enough information about it. Older belief that the best sleeping position for infants is belly down has been proven to be false and that the best position is still with the back towards the bed. Avoid plush toys and beddings on the sleep area and keep the baby warm but not too warm. The room where the baby sleep should be comfortable to you, so as to avoid them from overheating to levels where their fragile bodies still cannot cope with. If you think the baby is uncomfortable with the backwards sleep position, try the sideways orientation with a pillow propped up against the back and the limbs extended so as to avoid the child rolling over onto this tummy.
Shifting Schedules = Poor Sleep Hygiene
People who work in shifting jobs such as nurses, doctors and flight attendants are found to be those who are most likely to have poor sleep hygiene. Ample sleep at regular times is normally regulated by the body’s biological clock, a change in the normal rhythm wrecks the sleep patters and times causing flaring tempers and performance degradation issues. It also has the potential to affect their psychomotor performance resulting in more mistakes and permanent disruption of the biological clocks. This makes the working environment hazardous so when taken into a health care scenario can be the difference between life and death. The amount of sleep a person gets is reflected in overall health, productivity, better performance, emotional well-being and mental abilities. Lack thereof would result in counter-productive results which are dangerous and acceptable in the workplace.
Your Body Clock
Researchers have found that the circadian system or rhythm by which our body follows with respect to sleep patterns and times as being hard coded in our brain’s neurons. They have been able to identify genes and certain neural pathways which are responsible for our sleep patterns and are very excited for they now know which particular parts of the body to target when treating sleep disorders. Even obesity has been linked to the lack of sleep which gives credence to the saying that a good night’s sleep is all you need for a brighter tomorrow. The research is still on-going and there are better chances of finding a solution for those who suffer from sleep disorders like insomnia, sleep apnea and the many other debilitating sleep disorders people suffer each day.