Sleep Apnea Devices

March 10, 2010 by admin
Filed under Sleep Apnea Devices

What Are The Sleep Apnea Devices?

Getting restful sleep is vital. During sleep, blood pressure and body temperature changes, while respiration and heart rate decreases. Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is defined by repeated interruptions in breathing and / or reduced respiratory flow during sleep. The most common symptoms include difficulty breathing, snoring, restless sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, frequent headaches, enlarged tonsils and large tongue volume, and irritability. Sleep apnea can be mild, moderate or severe. If it’s left untreated, sleep apnea may lead to diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, obesity or depression. One common treatment is the use of sleep apnea devices.

Using sleep apnea devices as a way of treatment usually involves oxygen administration with continuous positive pressure (CPAP), which works very well in preventing apnea symptoms. Also, it’s necessary to change your lifestyle in order to sleep better and cure this condition. In severe cases, surgical treatment is the most appropriate solution. The main benefit of the operation is that the oxygen saturation in the arterial blood increases.

What exactly should you change about your lifestyle to alleviate the symptoms induced by sleep apnea? Well, it’s recommended to stop smoking and to avoid the consumption of alcohol, caffeine and sedatives. Obese and overweight people should lose weight in order to improve the quality of sleep. Overweight individuals who lose even 10% of their weight can reduce sleep apnea.

The sleep apnea devices is a method of treatment that your doctor will prescribe after diagnosing the condition, Other things you can try is to elevate the head of your bed 4 -6 inches to alleviate snoring. Maintaining regular sleep hours and using a nasal dilator is extremely useful.

CPAP-Continuous Positive Airways Pressure is considered the most effective method of therapy. CPAP involves the use of a ventilation device that provides pressurized air to prevent the airway from collapsing. This method is indicated for the treatment of moderate and severe sleep apnea. Patients who feel uncomfortable wearing this device have other options: bi level PAP and AutoPAP or Oral breathing devices that keep the tongue and jaw in an optimum 1000 position to maintain the airways open during sleep.

For some patients who need the sleep apnea devices, the doctor might recommend you to use a device known as AutoPAP, which is able to automatically adjust pressure. BiPAP devices provide two levels of pressure: a higher pressure during inspiration and lower pressure during exhalation. This type of device is recommended to patients who need a higher pressure than can be delivered with other devices.

Most sleep apnea devices are very comfortable and extremely silent. Usually, patients get used with these devices in a few days. Therefore, the possible disadvantages of following such a treatment are negligible compared to its benefits. However, for patients who do not tolerate or fail non-surgical measures, surgical treatment to anatomically alter the airway is available.

By: LionHearted

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