Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, obstructive sleep apnea, sleep apnea
Sleep apnea has been linked to heart attack, stroke, obesity and diabetes and now it looks like we can add cancer to this list. New studies appear to show that serious obstructive sleep apnea leads to an increased risk of developing cancer and if you have cancer, sleep apnea can increase the risk of dying from the disease.
Researchers in Spain looked at thousands of patients in sleep clinics and discovered that the patients with the most severe sleep apnea had a 65% greater chance of developing cancer. None of the patients in this study had diagnosed cancer when the study began but researchers found that the greater the oxygen deprivation during sleep, the greater the likelihood that the patient would end up with cancer.
Another study completed in Wisconsin showed that patients with the most breathing disruptions at night were five times more likely to die from cancer as people without sleep apnea. Recent animal studies have also suggested the sleep apnea/cancer link. Mice with tumors were placed in low-oxygen environments to mimic the effects of sleep apnea. The tumors advanced rapidly compared to mice who had normal oxygen environments.
Neither study looked at the impact of treatment of sleep apnea on these cancer outcomes. Dr. Miguel Angel Martinez-Garcia, author of the Spanish study speculated that treating sleep apnea may impact the association with cancer. One of the authors of the Wisconsin study, Dr. F. Javier Nieto, said “I would say that this is one more instance that shows that sleep apnea can have profound impacts for people’s health. Not breathing while you’re sleeping is a serious problem.”
For more information about diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea and treatment options for those who are CPAP intolerant please contact Doylestown, PA dental sleep medicine dentist Dr. Beth Snyder at 215-348-9922 today.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, oral appliance therapy, sleep apnea, snoring
Most people think snoring is annoying or humorous depending upon whether the snorer is sleeping next to them. But snoring can have serious health consequences.
Snoring happens because the soft tissues of the upper airway vibrate during sleep. Most people snore every once in a while but many snore all of the time. 44% of men and 28% of women older than age 30 snore chronically. Snoring can be exacerbated by obesity, nasal congestion, large tonsils or adenoids or hyperthyroidism.
Researchers have found that snoring increases the risk of narrowing of blood vessels in the neck. It is also thought that the vibration may cause damage to the carotid arteries leading to increased plaque formation.
Snoring that is very loud and includes complete stoppages of breathing is a sign of a serious condition called obstructive sleep apnea.
The bed partner of the snoring sleeper suffers health effects as well. Because their sleep is frequently disturbed by the snoring throughout the night they may experience weight gain, irritability and an increased risk of accidents due to daytime sleepiness.
How do you stop snoring? Losing weight may help as will avoiding alcohol before bedtime. For people who snore only when sleeping in one position there is the old ‘tennis ball in the t-shirt’ trick or specially shaped pillows to keep you off your back. Serious, chronic snorers should have a sleep study to rule out obstructive sleep apnea.
Sleeping with an oral appliance created by a specially trained dentist can put a stop to the snoring for most people. These oral appliances can also be used to treat obstructive sleep apnea for patients who are CPAP intolerant or dislike using CPAP.
For more information about snoring solutions please contact Dr. Beth Snyder in Doylestown, PA today at 215-348-9922 today.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, oral appliance therapy, sleep apnea, snoring
Does your bed partner snore? Really loud snoring that keeps you from getting the sleep you need? This is so common that losing sleep because of a bed-partner that snores actually has been given a name by sleep researchers – SAS or Spousal Arousal Syndrome.
The health consequences of Spousal Arousal Syndrome can be significant. Spouses lose an average of two hours of sleep per night because of the snoring partner and what sleep they do get is often fragmented. Lack of sleep causes weight gain, irritability, increased blood pressure, memory problems and daytime sleepiness. Poor job performance and an increased risk of accident due to tiredness are also common.
Sleeping in separate bedrooms is an idea but it won’t deal with the real problem — the person that snores has a serious health issue that needs to be dealt with. First, you need to convince your spouse that their snoring is really THAT bad. A tape recorder or video camera may come in handy for this. Second, you need to have your spouse screened for a sleep breathing disorder called obstructive sleep apnea. Loud snoring, gasping or choking during sleep are signs as is weight gain and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Untreated obstructive sleep apnea has very serious health consequences including increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Fortunately, diagnosing and treating sleep apnea can allow you both a full night of sleep. The first line of treatment for this disorder is called CPAP but about half of patients cannot tolerate sleeping with the machine.
A highly effective and much easier form of treatment for most patients is an oral appliance created by a sleep medicine dentist like Dr. Beth Snyder. An oral appliance looks similar to a mouthguard and is worn while sleeping — the device stops the snoring and keeps the airway open all night.
Both partners wake up feeling energized and ready to face the day! How long has it been since that happened?
Please contact Dr. Beth Snyder in Doylestown, PA today at 215-348-9922 to schedule your dental sleep medicine consultation. You both deserve a quiet, restful night of sleep.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, OSA, sleep apnea, snoring
The link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and stroke has been shown clearly in many studies but just how the blood vessels in the brain are affected has not been proven. A new model developed by researchers in Texas may be changing that. The researchers from Baylor College of Medicine found that after only 30 days of exposure to sleep apnea the functioning of vessels in the brain change which could lead to stroke.
Obstructive sleep apnea affects about 20% of American adults although it is estimated that about 85% of them have not been diagnosed. OSA occurs when the upper airway collapses during sleep, blocking the flow of air. These episodes recur many times each night placing a great deal of stress on the heart and circulatory system. Symptoms of OSA include loud snoring, gasping or choking during sleep and extreme daytime sleepiness. Age and being overweight are strongly associated with OSA but even children can develop the disorder.
Other signs of OSA include an enlarged neck size, morning headaches, sexual dysfunction and mood changes. The spouse of the patient with OSA also suffers from a shortage of sleep due to the loud nocturnal noises of their partner.
Treating OSA is easy and comfortable when an oral appliances is created by a dentist specially trained in dental sleep medicine. Please contact Dr. Beth Snyder in Doylestown, PA today at 215-348-9922 to schedule your sleep apnea consultation.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, obstructive sleep apnea, sleep disorders
Imagine this scenario – a man who drives 18-wheelers for a living loses his job because he refuses to take a test for sleep apnea. He applies at 30 companies before another trucking firm finally hires him. What happens? 
He falls asleep at the wheel and rear ends a stopped car going 65 mph. A man died and his widow in Texas won a $3.25 million judgement against the trucking company.
Sleep apnea in the trucking industry is something that has been talked about for years but what is surprising is just how prevalent the problem is. A study done in Australia showed that over 40% of the truck drivers there have obstructive sleep apnea. Prior to testing for the disease less than 5% of the drivers said they had been diagnosed with sleep apnea. NPR had previously reported that up to 33% of truck drivers in the US had sleep apnea.
Sleepy transportation workers are a danger and the problem is not limited to the people who drive the big rigs. Train operators, pilots and others all have reported experiencing a “near miss” because of fatigue. Has fatigue affected your work performance? If the answer is yes and you experience frequent daytime sleepiness you may suffer from a sleep breathing disorder that is robbing you of the rest you need. Please contact Dr. Beth Snyder in Doylestown, PA at 215-348-9922 today to schedule your consultation.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, Doylestown, obstructive sleep apnea, oral appliance therapy
CPAP isn’t working for you? Try looking at alternatives rather than stopping treatment of your obstructive sleep apnea. About 18 million American are affected by obstructive sleep apnea and treatment using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the gold standard when it comes to treatment.
The Problem
When patients are diagnosed they are usually given a CPAP machine and sent home. The problem is that about half of the people prescribed CPAP therapy fail – they cannot tolerate sleeping with the CPAP machine for one reason or another. Some feel claustrophobic, the mask is uncomfortable, they get a rash, the machine makes noise, or some other reason and they just stop treatment.
Obstructive sleep apnea has been linked to heart attack, stroke, weight gain, erectile dysfunction, high blood pressure and other systemic conditions. Treatment is necessary to prevent serious illness or death.
The Treatment You Can Live With
According to sleep apnea experts the best treatment for patients who are CPAP intolerant and suffer from mild to moderate sleep apnea is an oral appliance created by a dentist who has been trained in dental sleep medicine. An oral appliance is custom designed for you and created in a laboratory. Over a period of weeks your appliance is adjusted so that you are sleeping comfortably without snoring or apnea events all night long. Oral appliance therapy works with your body to protect against stoppage of breath during sleep.
Get your energy and health back! Contact the Doylestown, PA dental sleep medicine office of Dr. Beth Snyder at 215-348-9922 today to schedule your consultation to see if you are a candidate for oral appliance therapy.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, Doylestown, sleep apnea, snoring
We are coming to the end of National Sleep Awareness Week – so how did you sleep? Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep do more than make you cranky, your risk for serious health problems also increases. Poor sleep is linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain and erectile dysfunction.
Our immune systems suffer when we don’t get enough rest. A study in the journal Immunity showed that our circadian clock, which determines our daily sleep and hunger cycles, also appears to control an important immune system gene. So when you get sick after a particularly hectic few days it is no surprise.
Lots of us have poor quality sleep because of snoring – either our own or our bed partner. Snoring can be a sign of a serious sleep breathing disorder such as obstructive sleep apnea. The health of the bed partner of the snorer is also effected because of disturbed sleep. Treating snoring and obstructive sleep apnea using an oral appliance can allow both partners a good night’s sleep and lead to better overall health and well-being.
Patients living in the Doylestown, PA area can contact Dr. Beth Snyder at 215-348-9922 for more information about oral appliances for treating snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. Please contact our office today at o schedule your consultation.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, oral appliance therapy, OSA, sleep apnea, snoring
Did you wake up this morning feeling exhausted? Some nights it feels like we didn’t sleep at all — this happens every now and then for most of us but for some folks it is a nightly occurrence. Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can cause more serious problems than just leaving you grouchy the next morning. Having disrupted sleep over the long term seems to be associated with the type of amyloid plaque buildup in the brain that we see in Alzheimer’s patients according to researchers at the University School of Medicine, St. Louis.
People who slept soundly all night long were five times less likely to have the amyloid plaque buildup than people who woke up frequently. People who had a hard time falling asleep also had a greater chance of having these “markers” of Alzheimer’s. The researchers are unsure about the cause and effect of the relationship and more studies will be needed to determine whether the poor quality sleep is causing the plaque buildup or if the amyloid plaque is causing the sleep disruption.
Until more research clarifies the situation we should all try to get the best quality sleep we can. If your sleep is disrupted by a spouse who snores loudly throughout the night you already know you aren’t getting the sleep you need. Snoring can be a sign of a serious disorder called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). If your significant other sometimes gasps for air during sleep and feels sleepy during the day he or she may suffer from OSA. Obstructive sleep apnea has been linked to heart disease, stroke, weight gain and increased risk of accidents. CPAP is the usual treatment but almost half of patients find sleeping with the masks and hoses impossible. The field of Dental Sleep Medicine offers oral appliance therapy that can put an end to the snoring and allows the airway to remain open all night, keeping the OSA patient breathing. Both bed partners have a better night’s sleep and improved energy and health.
Treating OSA using an oral appliance is convenient and effective. To find out more about sleep breathing disorders and about oral appliance therapy for snoring and OSA please contact Dr. Beth Snyder in Doylestown, PA today at 215-348-9922.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, Doylestown, obstructive sleep apnea, oral appliance therapy
Sleep apnea has been linked to strokes in many studies but new research shows a relation between sleep apnea and silent strokes. Silent strokes are those that cause tissue death in the brain but no symptoms.
The research from Dresden, Germany evaluated stroke patients for sleep apnea. They found 91% of the study population had sleep apnea. The researchers also performed brain scans on the patients and found that those with sleep apnea were more likely to have silent strokes. Having more than five episodes of apnea per night was linked to the silent strokes and the worse the case of sleep apnea, the more likely the patient experienced silent strokes.
This frightening research underscores the importance of treating sleep breathing disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. There are two problems healthcare providers face.
First, most people who have sleep apnea do not know it. Patients are usually diagnosed only when a bed partner complains about the snoring and gasping or their daytime sleepiness forces them to seek a medical opinion.
Secondly, once a diagnosis is made the first line of treatment is usually CPAP. While CPAP is a lifesaving therapy about half of patients find it impossible to sleep with a CPAP machine. They find the masks uncomfortable, the machine annoying and refuse to continue the therapy.
For mild to moderate sleep apnea a wonderful alternative for these patients is an oral appliance. An oral appliance is a small device that looks like a mouthguard. The appliance is created by a dentist who has special training in the field of dental sleep medicine. The appliance is designed to place the jaw in a position that enables the airway to stay open all night long – no more stoppages of breathing.
To find out if you may suffer from sleep apnea or if you have been diagnosed and cannot tolerate your CPAP please contact Dr. Beth Snyder in Doylestown, PA at 215-348-9922. We will be happy to schedule a consultation to see if you may be a candidate for oral appliance therapy.
Filed under: Sleep Apnea & Snoring | Tags: Beth Snyder DMD, Doylestown, sleep apnea, snoring
Men and women are different in so many ways, including differences in our sleep apnea symptoms. Many more men are diagnosed with sleep apnea but this may not be just because more of them have the disease. Sleep apnea may be diagnosed less in women because women’s symptoms may be different from a mans. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disorder that causes people to stop breathing during sleep. Usually loud snoring, gasping for breath and daytime fatigue are symptoms.
Apnea events are counted when the breathing stops or slows for at least 10 seconds at a time and this can occur many times each night. Those patients who stop breathing 10-29 times per hour are considered to have mild to moderate sleep apnea, those with 30 or more interruptions per hour have severe sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea has severe health consequences greatly increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Most women don’t realize that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women in America so diagnosing and treating a risk factor like obstructive sleep apnea is vital.
Patients with OSA often go undiagnosed. They are not aware that they snore, gasp and stop breathing during sleep and may only seek diagnosis when a bed partner complains about the noise keeping them up at night. Women especially may be diagnosed less frequently because daytime sleepiness is a key symptom that men report much more frequently than women. It is more common for breathing problems to keep women from falling asleep or staying asleep.
Treating obstructive sleep apnea usually involves sleeping with a CPAP machine which pumps air through a mask allowing the sleeper to breath all night. Unfortunately this treatment is not well tolerated by many patients. A very good treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea is an oral appliance made by a specially trained dentist. The oral appliance is created in a lab and worn in the mouth at night and helps hold the jaw in a position that keeps the airway open allowing a full night of breathing and sleep.
If loud snoring, daytime fatigue and weight gain are a problem please contact to schedule your consultation and discuss diagnosis and treatment options for obstructive sleep apnea. Please contact your Doylestown, PA sleep medicine dentist Dr. Beth Snyder at 215-348-9922 today to schedule your consultation.
