Sleep apnea solutions: Breathless no more

by Vincent Ma

After reading several posts here on the subject of the sleep apnea, I just thought I would add my two cents worth. First of all snoring is not normal. As men, we tend to think that snoring is macho, my father snored, my grandfather snored and my uncle snored so it's natural that I should snore. Snoring itself is not an indication of sleep apnea; however, if the snoring is frequently interrupted by periods of silence followed by a gagging or choking reflex is usually indicative of an episode. Severe sleep apnea (and what insurances look for) is an AHI of 15 or greater. AHI stands for Apnea-Hypopnea Index and an episode of sleep apnea occurs when a person stops breathing for 10 seconds or longer. The AHI is an hourly average during sleeping hours. So an AHI of 15 means that for every hour that you were asleep you stopped breathing for 10 secs or more, 15 times an hour.

Your body will react to the lack of oxygen by increasing your heart rate to increase your blood flow and "wake" you up. Most people do not become consciously awake, they only get out of REM sleep and slowly fall back into deep sleep.

The reason that sleep apnea has taking center stage in health is because sleep apnea has been linked to high blood pressure, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. Sleep Apnea is also blamed for a large percentage of automobile accidents.

Treatments range from lifestyle changes, oral devices, CPAP, minimally invasive surgery and major surgery:

Lifestyle changes include losing weight, which helps reduce pressure on the airway, sleeping on your side, exercising to increase muscle tone and dietary changes.

Oral devices are like mouth guards that you wear while sleeping. When you bite down on them it moves your jaw slightly forward to reduce the blocking of your airway. However, many patient complain of discomfort and excessive drooling.

CPAP is by far the most common treatment and usually the first-line of treatment. CPAP stands for Constant Positive Airway Pressure, and the machine just blows air to help keep your air passage open. CPAP technology has come a long way and now there is APAP (Auto-Adjusting) and BPAP (Bi-level). Both of these machines offer more comfort features to normal CPAP and just makes it easier to exhale. There are many different types of masks and more of them are becoming less obtrusive. As you can guess the major complaint of CPAP is the mask and the noise, but I can assure you at CPAP machines are now near silent and the newest mask that I have seen is not much larger than a snorkel.

There are a couple of different new surgical procedures that have recently been introduced that are just out patient procedures. The most popular is called the Pillar System by Restore Medical. The entire procedure involves three small incisions on the roof of your mouth and three pillars inserted. This makes the top of your mouth more rigid and less likely to block your airway.

The last option is the most severe and involves breaking your jaw and moving it forward to increase your airway. This procedure is now not often done except as a last resort.

I hope this helps to clarify a few myths about sleep apnea.

Learn more about this author, Vincent Ma.

How to lose 10 pounds in a week

by Trisha Orlando

How to Drop 10 Pounds of Excess Baggage in 7 Days

OK, I admit it, the only reason I try to lose weight is because I hate shopping for jeans.
Trying on pair after pair in a public dressing room makes me nervous. Besides that, there are just too many different styles and cuts of jeans and it confuses me.

There should be charts for women like me. Each pair of jeans should come with instructions.

"If your hips are 36" and you are 5" tall, please do not buy these jeans."

Usually I just buy my jeans at resale shops without trying them on. I figure whatever doesn't fit can be brought back in my next load of consignments.

I'll tell you one thing, those low riding jeans are defintely not for me! Back in the day, I wore hip huggers and looked damned good if I do say so myself. Now that little roll of belly fat hangs over and it is not attractive. And they make them SO LOW nowadays, how the heck do you keep your butt crack from showing?

Ah, but I digress.

Now I have found this method to be tried and true so listen up.
Drop soft drinks like a hot potato. You'll shed 3-5 pounds in a couple days.

The rest of the 7 days to better fitting clothes is simple.
WATCH YOUR CARB intake.
Carbs are your worse enemy.
Here are some foods that are Carb-less or low carb:
Steak
Eggs
Mustard
Fish
Butter
Lettuce
Spinach
Cucumbers
Cheese

Well that's no so bad is it? I lived on steak and eggs for a week and lost 11 pounds.

Here's the bad news, these are the NO NO foods:
Breads
Pasta (remember I said I am ITALIAN! this part was the painful part for me)
Hot Dogs
Bacon
Baloney
Most fruits
Carrots
Corn
Peas
Potatoes
Anything with sugar is off limits

TESTIMONIAL:
I had been stick thin all my life. Being Italian this is a rarity. My sisters and my Mother have battle their weight all their lives. I could eat anything and not gain an ounce.

UNTIL.....
I turned 43. For some reason, things were going good until then. My sisters hated me because I had never been on a diet before.

Well about the time I turned 43, I discovered the internet. I was one of the lucky few who got involved with a work at home website job when the Dot Com era was in full swing. Made good money sitting on my rear end all day and it started getting bigger and bigger. Not the website, mind you, my rear end.

I had to take a trip to Vegas for my job one spring. It was then I realized that my thighs rubbed together when I walked! *GASP!*

Since I live in another state, I was lucky. My sisters would not have the divine pleasure of seeing me on the hefty side. I had gained almost 40 pounds.

I sure as heck was not going to ask them for diet advice and let them know the spells they had put on me all their lives had worked. "Someday you'll find out what it's like to have to go on a diet", they preached.

I went on the internet and researched diets. I was drinking Pepsi, smoking cigarettes and eating Bugles as I searched.

That came to an abrupt halt.

Long story short: Within 3 months I had shed not only the extra 40 pounds but 3 bonus pounds too!

Oh and by the way, my idea of excercise is driving 3 or 4 miles a day so for those of you who aren't into the excercise scene, this is the plan for you!

Good luck!

Learn more about this author, Trisha Orlando.