How snoring and sleep problems can cause heart conditions

Research tells us that snoring, sleep disorders and heart disease are closely linked and one condition can lead to the other. When you sleep, it provides your heart with a chance to slow down, and let breathing and blood pressure drop to lower levels lower than when awake.

Sleep-related disorders such as snoring or sleep apnoea are very common in society today and can have a seriously adverse effect on health and well being – both physical and mental. It has an effect on quality of life, and even safety. To stay in good health and replenish important energy levels it is vital to get the right amount of quality restorative sleep. This plays an important role in strengthening the immune system, supporting healthy growth and development, and even sustaining proper brain function.

Numerous research studies underline the very close relationship that exists between sleep disorders and heart disease; they are totally inter-related and one leads to the other.

The heart, although quite a small organ, has incredible importance, as we all know. Despite it being approximately the same size as a clenched fist, it has to do the work of something that one would believe should be much larger. During the average day, it is estimated that the heart pumps almost 2,000 gallons of blood around the body; truly a most vital organ that does a vast amount of work for us. It is because of this that it can be strained if not looked after well.

Sleep is the time when the heart rests and recovers. During that time breathing and blood pressure fall to lower levels and allow the heart to regain its strength.

Major health problems can therefore occur if good, restorative, regular sleep time is not achieved and as a result this can lead to as number of heart-related conditions including:

  • High blood pressure.
  • Chest pain.
  • Hardening of the arteries.
  • Heart attack.
  • Stroke.
  • Coronary heart disease.
  • Congestive heart defects.

Research by all leading organisations and hospitals show that habitual loud snorers have a much higher risk of developing cardiovascular problems, when they are compared to those who hardly or never snore at all. The soft tissue in the neck, relaxing and blocking the airway, causes snoring so that the air has to be forced through the narrowed passage. As our muscles get weaker with age, the condition is more prevalent, and has the result of cutting down on the oxygen supply that is being provided. This is aggravated by other factors such as being overweight, consumption of alcohol, certain medications such as sedatives, and smoking.

If you suffer from this type of sleep disorder it’s also likely that you’ll feel sleepy during the day, reducing concentration, and bringing the risk of falling asleep while driving or working. More and more road accidents are caused because of this and recent AA estimates place it as high as 20% when fatalities are involved. Treatment in one form or another is therefore vital and the problem must not be ignored.

Medical recommendations for sleep disorders may include one or several of the following:

  • Losing excess weight
  • Stopping smoking
  • Cutting out alcohol
  • Avoiding sleeping pills

In addition more thorough treatment may be suggested that can be put in place immediately as most of the items above are difficult to achieve for some people, and take time. Options include:

Surgery on the upper airway to remove tissue – if necessary or appropriate

Using a pressurised mask and air tank throughout the night – this is called Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and allows air to be forced through the airway

Using a simple mouth guard that slightly repositions the lower jaw and opens the airway. This is similar to a sports gum shield and often the most popular way due to simplicity.

Bear in mind that early treatment can help you recover from your sleep disorder and reduce the risk of other serious health issues.

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Two new studies underline the health risks of snoring

Whatever your age, or your current state of health, the warning that is given to you loud and clear by heavy snoring cannot and should not be overlooked.

Half of pregnant women who have hypertension and snore have OSA
New research shows that1 in 2 hypertensive pregnant women who habitually snore may have unrecognized obstructive sleep apnoea, a sleeping disorder that can reduce blood oxygen levels during the night and that has been linked to serious health conditions.

Habitual snoring, which is where snoring happens three or more nights a week, is the hallmark symptom of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), which has been shown to increase in frequency during pregnancy. And affect up to one-third of women by the third trimester

In addition, one in four hypertensive pregnant women who don’t snore also unknowingly suffer from the same sleeping disorder, according to the study that appears in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

“Our findings show that a substantial proportion of hypertensive pregnant women have obstructive sleep apnea and that habitual snoring may be one of the most telling signs to identify this risk early in order to improve health outcomes. Prompt recognition, evaluation, and management can only improve health benefits for both mothers and babies.”

Sleep apnoea linked to diabetes in largest ever study

This was a long-term study of over 8,000 adults from 1994 right up to 2111 and the findings were published online ahead of publication in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Patients with OSA were tracked for diabetes throughout this period and the results were conclusive. Previous studies have been on a smaller scale and also for shorter periods so this new study now leaves no doubt of the OSA-Diabetes relationship.

Patients were classified into groups of differing OSA severity according to how many pauses in breathing, or apnoeas, they suffered per hour of their sleep:

________________________________________________________________________________

5 or less Non-sufferers of OSA Control Group

5 to 15 Mild sufferers of OSA Risk of diabetes 23% higher

15-30 Moderate sufferers of OSA Risk of diabetes 23% higher

30 plus Severe sufferers of OSA Risk of diabetes 30% higher
________________________________________________________________________________

The main results showed almost 12% of all patients who snored heavily and most likely had OSA developed diabetes. Those sufferers who fell into the Mild or Moderate Groups had a 23% higher risk of developing diabetes than Non-sufferers, whilst those in the Severe group had a risk that was as much as 30% higher.

The following statement was made to sum up the findings:

“After adjusting for other potential causes, we were able to demonstrate a significant association between OSA severity and the risk of developing diabetes, Our findings that prolonged oxygen desaturation, shorter sleep time and higher heart rate were associated with diabetes are consistent with the mechanisms thought to underlie the relationship between OSA and diabetes.”

“These findings may allow for early preventative interventions in these patients.”

If you snore heavily, and gasp for breath, with the consequence of disturbed sleep, you should take immediate steps to correct your breathing pattern, and this will prove highly beneficial to your future health. The solution may be as simple as wearing a simple oral appliance.

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Hearing loss linked to snoring and sleep apnoea

Sleep apnoea and heavy snoring is independently associated with a 31 per cent increase in high frequency hearing impairment.

Sleep apnoea is positively linked to increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, amongst numerous other serious health problems, but a large U.S. study has now found that the sleeping disorder is also linked to hearing loss.

Sleep apnoea is the temporary cessation of breathing during sleep, which in some cases is due to obstruction of the upper airway by enlarged tonsils causing loud snoring and fighting for their breath.

The study investigated data gathered from almost 14,000 U.S. participants in the Hispanic Community Health Study. About 53 per cent of respondents were women and on average the subjects were 41 years old. All of them dad completed detailed in-home sleep studies and audiometric (hearing) testing. About 10 per cent of the study volunteers had sleep apnoea and 30 per cent had some form of hearing impairment, according to the study.

People in the study were more likely to have hearing impairment if they were of Cuban and Puerto Rican backgrounds, had a higher body mass index or BMI (an indication of being overweight), were people who snored, or had been diagnosed as having sleep apnoea.

The study authors found that sleep apnoea was associated with a 31 per cent increase in high frequency hearing impairment and a 90 per cent increase in low frequency hearing impairment. Sleep apnoea was also linked to a 38 per cent increase in both high and low frequency hearing loss. Speech tends to fall in the low frequency range so the results are both serious and widespread amongst snorers and apnoea sufferers.

The findings were presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Diego, California last week and further studies into the wider community are now being planned.

Habitual, loud snoring is a key symptom of obstructive sleep apnoea, (OSA), a disease that affects 12-18 million Americans and is known to increase the risk of many health problems including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, erectile dysfunction and depression. The actual number of sufferers is definitely much higher and may be 70-80 million, as most cases of OSA are known to be untreated and undiagnosed – in fact, the key indicator of the problem, heavy snoring, is foolishly ignored.

Only one thing can be concluded from the study the lead Researcher said: “There is the potential that treating sleep apnoea may improve hearing loss.” and she went on to say that people with sleep apnoea should be screened for hearing impairment since it is shown to be associated with the disorder.

For many sleep apnoea sufferers relief lies in an effective treatment called oral appliance therapy which uses a “mouth-guard” like device worn only during sleep to hold your jaw forward and open your airway. Pioneered by dentists, oral appliance therapy began its surge into sleep apnoea treatment plans in the early 1990s.

Now, more than 20 years later, a growing mass of research is proving that oral appliances are a highly effective alternative to the inconvenience and difficulties of using CPAP, (a mask based oxygen supply), and that patients are more likely to use oral appliances, even seven days a week, to get a good night’s rest, improve their health, and even prolong their lives.

So if you’ve got hearing problems, and you snore, do something about it.

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Does snoring affect your sex life?

According to the results of a recent poll published in a leading Newspaper the answer is definitely ‘YES’ – and the results of the poll were devastatingly clear.

• More than 20% of both sexes claimed that snoring put them off being intimate with their partner
• Almost 30% of men said it had taken the spark out of their sex lives, and nearly 50% were embarrassed by their snoring
• Nearly 40% of couples admitted that it had pushed them into separate bedrooms and had even led to break ups and divorce in some cases
• Nearly half of women claimed that snoring had an extremely negative effect on their relationship overall, not just in bed, due to fatigue and irritability
• In the older age groups, from 45-54, the results were even more positive, and they stated that snoring had totally ruined their sex life, and 1 in 5 even claimed that it had caused a total relationship breakdown

It has been long known that in addition to these things that snoring contributes to erectile dysfunction and decreased libido, and this adds to the problem in a big way.

There’s nothing like a disturbed night’s sleep caused by a snoring partner to inject lots of friction into a relationship and this recent survey certainly proved it, according to the experts in sleep research, and relationships, who carried it out. Disturbed sleep was found to be seriously detrimental to relationships, and even just one poor night had an impact.

During the period of the study the people who slept the worse, on average, found that they were much more likely to argue with their partners on the next day. In interviews, the sources of the conflict were evaluated and irritability and fatigue were the key triggers. Heavy snoring had often forced them to sleep apart and move into separate bedrooms – for ‘survival’ reasons. Worryingly though, 70% of men and 66% of women found that this made them ‘emotionally distant’ from their partner.

One respondent said “My husband has had to sleep in a separate bedroom due to his snoring for years now. Sadly his snoring has taken the romance out of our relationship. We go to bed separately and get ready in separate rooms in the morning.”

The survey was also covered in leading US Newspapers, including The New York Times, who stated: “Instead of spontaneous interaction, couples have to make a planned effort to meet up. Over time, the loss of sexual activity can lead to a lack of intimacy and bonding”.

Spending time in bed together is crucial for couples because it is devoid of the distractions of work, children and obligations. In addition to sex, couples cuddle, touch, and chat, all of which are an important part of the bonding process that holds relationships together.

They recommend that to avoid the early untimely demise of your sex life, the guilty partner should get some form of treatment for the underlying problem – snoring. Doing so will not just improve your relationship, but also address the problem of sleep apnoea, which affects many snorers and is a rising problem due to our lifestyles.

The good news is that both snoring and sleep apnoea are very treatable. In most cases, snoring, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, decreased libido and other health issues that may be preventing sex can be easily treated and reversed.

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How Women sleep differently to Men – and why it matters

It has been known for a long time that women take longer to fall asleep and new research from the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) has verified it. As well as being slower to get to sleep, they feel ‘sleepiness’ more than men and have an increased risk of insomnia. On the other hand, when asleep, they spend much longer in deep sleep.

Much of the understanding of why sex differences in sleep exist and also how these differences may affect treatment lag far behind any other areas of knowledge with regards to sleep and sleep disorders. Much of what we have in medical literature focuses only on snoring and sleep apnoea, long regarded solely as a male problem – but certainly not true.

Hoping to correct this lack of information, some of the leading names in women’s sleep research were brought together by SWHR to gather information on the the matter, including sleep experts from both Harvard and Stanford Universities. They found that hormonal shift seems to play a big role; and these times for a woman are when she appears most vulnerable to insomnia, both monthly, and also around the menopause. Restless legs syndrome is also much more common in pregnant women than in men, children, or women who have not had children, but the exact hormonal connection however is yet to be established.

Women are bringing sleep-related concerns to their doctors, but the statistics aren’t pointing to the real problems that exist. Sleep apnoea is a prime example of this.

Men with the condition are likely to report snoring, snorting, or waking up and gasping for breath. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to report fatigue, depression and un-refreshing sleep.

All this underlines that much more detailed research is required into women’s sleep disorders as well as the current work that mostly deals with men. Sleep apnoea of course is far from exclusive to men, and the number of women sufferers is growing – but is this through an increase in the number of sufferers or improved diagnosis?

Further to this in the UK, Sleep specialist Dr Neil Stanley of the University of Surrey told the British Science Festival how bed-sharing causes rows over snoring and duvet hogging, and this often robs women of precious sleep. One study found that, on average, couples suffered 50% more sleep disturbances if they shared a bed.

Dr Stanley points out that historically we were never meant to share our beds. He said the modern tradition of the marital bed only began with the industrial revolution, when people moving to overcrowded towns and cities found themselves short of living space. Before the Victorian era it was not uncommon for married couples to sleep apart, and in ancient Rome, the marital bed was a place for sexual congress but not for sleeping.

He said poor sleep was linked to depression, heart disease, strokes, lung disorders, traffic and industrial accidents, and divorce, yet sleep was largely ignored as an aspect of health. Dr Robert Meadows, a sociologist at the University of Surrey, said: “People actually feel that they sleep better when they are with a partner but the evidence suggests otherwise.”

In his study he found that when couples share a bed and one of them moves in his or her sleep, there is a 50% chance that their slumbering partner, more often the woman, will be disturbed as a result. Despite this, couples are reluctant to sleep apart, with only 8% of those in their 40s and 50s sleeping in separate rooms, the British Science Festival heard.

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Snoring and lack of sleep are major problems in Singapore

Two more leading companies have published findings in the last week that focus on this area, and their names may come as a surprise, as neither one of them is a part of the health industry, or even connected to it.

The first is Febreze, who are known primarily for products that improve air freshness, and who have published a report stating that stress, bad dreams and partner’s snoring means millions of us are struggling to nod off every single night of the week, and worse still at weekends. They claim that almost nine in ten of us have nights of disturbed sleep because of these problems, with more than a third saying they rarely have a full night’s good sleep.

It amounts on average, to almost two hours of vital shut-eye being lost on three different nights a week due to restlessness for one of the above stated reasons, and in total that’s nearly six hours each and every week which amounts to around 12 full days each year.

Around one in three even admitted they get really angry or resent their partner for sleeping soundly next to them while they are lying awake and struggling to sleep.

Overall the lack of sleep is affecting their mood and productivity, with almost two thirds also admitting people have even commented to them on how bad they look after a disturbed night’s sleep, whilst more than eight in ten also admitted that they struggle to concentrate at work after a night of tossing and turning, with 22% making mistakes, or even struggling to make it in to work, with another one in ten nodding off en route.

Joining them in publishing facts on this same subject were a company aptly named Late Rooms, a website for hotel bookings, and offering exactly what its name says.

Their report underlined the fact that if you’ve ever been woken up by your partner’s loud snoring, then you’re certainly far from alone; in fact it applies to approximately one third of women, although only 15 per cent of men. On the whole men snore more, and louder, but it’s not restricted to them as a problem, and more women are growing aware of the fact that they do it too.

The findings state that only a quarter of the population gets an uninterrupted night of sleep on a regular basis – and a massive 3 out of 4 people don’t. This causes health and mood problems, even affects your looks and is often harmful to close relationships.

A well-known Throat and Nose Specialist, in commenting on the findings, said that snoring “can be a serious cause of marital and relationship disharmony.” He went on to add: “The majority of patients I see in my clinic are men, although there are women too, and they almost always have a story about how their snoring is affecting their relationship. Either they end up sleeping in separate beds several times a week, or they don’t and it simply causes major arguments.”

We are all aware today that snoring can so easily be prevented and it’s important to act to resolve it before it escalates to a major health or domestic problem, or even becomes life-threatening if it develops further.

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Choose the right solution for your type of snoring.

Millions of people in Britain often miss out on a good night’s sleep because of a partner’s nocturnal loud snoring. This can lead to many different aspects of poor health, particularly for the person snoring, but also for the one who has the disturbed night.

Many serious illnesses are closely related to snoring including major life-threatening problems such as Type 2 Diabetes, Cancer, Strokes, Heart attacks and many more. Nearly half of all middle-aged men snore, but it’s not solely a male problem. It affects women too, particularly later in life, and after the menopause.

In fact, currently it’s estimated that 41% of adult Britons snore, and the total is growing, mostly due to changes in lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol, and gaining weight.

As there are numerous causes for snoring, the key thing is to work out what type of snorer you are before buying devices and remedies to help.

The main triggers for snoring have already been listed and are often difficult to deal with:

Weight gain is linked to a host of health problems and is a main trigger for snoring in men because, unlike women, they have a tendency to put on weight around their necks. If you have a larger collar size (17 and above) the fatty tissue around the neck will squeeze the airway and hinder the smooth passage of oxygen when you are breathing in your sleep. This narrowing is what causes the vibration called snoring. Losing weight through careful diet and exercise is obviously the solution and will help snoring to decrease over time.

Alcohol is another trigger and because it’s a sedative it helps to relax the muscles at the back of the throat – again causing snoring as the throat constricts. Sleeping pills and some medication, such as antihistamines, can produce a similar effect. The answer is of course to drink less, particularly in the later hours before going to bed.

Smoking is a common problem and smokers are roughly twice as likely to snore as non-smokers. The cigarette smoke irritates the lining of the nasal cavity and throat, causing swelling and catarrh – the result is snoring. The congestion makes it difficult to breathe through the nose and the more you smoke, the more you’ll snore – and even passive smoking plays a part.

Other factors such as allergies, including hay fever, can cause congestion, and also your sleeping position, can also be a trigger. Sleeping on your back causing the airway to close by falling back on itself is also a reason for snoring.

The important thing however, before selecting a remedy for snoring, is to analyse how you snore, and for this you may need your partner’s help to look. The key areas to identify that will determine what you can buy to help you are as follows:

Type 1 • Mouth breathing
If you sleep through the night with your mouth open, you are likely to snore. When we breathe in through the nose, the air passes over the curved part of the soft palate in a gentle flow into the throat without creating unnecessary turbulence. However, when we breathe in through the mouth, the air hits the back of the throat ‘head on’ and can create enormous vibrations in the soft tissue.

Solution: Mouth breathing devices, including Chin Straps to prevent the mouth falling open will help you to breathe through your nose.

Type 2 • Tongue base snoring
If you’ve been a heavy snorer for some time, damage to the nerves and muscles of the upper airway mean they’re more prone to collapse and this restricts the airway and vibrates the tissue of the tongue, causing it to block the airway and so preventing you from breathing. This is termed apnoea – literally meaning “without breath”.

Solution: Clinical studies show that a mandibular advancement device (MAD) can help keep the tongue away from the back of the throat by moving the jaw forward slightly.

Or is it obstructive sleep apnoea?
Obstructive sleep apnoea is a condition that leads to constantly interrupted breathing during sleep and is caused by an obstruction to the airway. It affects around four per cent of middle-aged men and two per cent of middle-aged women, and studies indicate that 60 per cent of those over 65 have OSA.

Those affected stop breathing for periods of 10 seconds or more before waking with a loud snore or snort as the brain registers a lack of oxygen. People with sleep apnoea usually complain of excessive daytime sleepiness often with irritability or restlessness but have no recollection of episodes of apnoea. It’s usually the bed partner who notices the symptoms in this case.

OSA can range from very mild to very severe. But, left untreated, it can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, and other conditions. Treatment ranges from a MAD for mild to moderate conditions, to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), using a machine to prevent your airway from collapsing or becoming blocked, for those who have it severely.

In essence it’s a 3-way choice – a Chin Strap, an oral appliance (MAD), or CPAP – but the latter is only for the most severe cases of obstructive sleep apnoea and it needs thorough diagnosis and careful medical supervision. MAD’s and Chin Straps on the other hand are inexpensive and easily available without prescription from NHS approved suppliers.

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Snorers Health Risks

Can the NHS cut costs and meet rising expectations? Treating OSA could save it £28 billion per year and the diagram below shows how cutting down the treatment being required for so many health issues could do it.

In all cases these are the Government’s own figures that are being used.

Although all the major political parties have pledged to protect the NHS from spending cuts, after a period of unprecedented growth there is now the prospect of a both a funding freeze, or close to it, and cut backs in some vital services including A&E. and the provision of some life-extending drugs. Other changes include elderly care, with more having to be done at home under family supervision at the individual’s own cost.

This would be the most austere period for the NHS in over thirty years. Even with funding held constant, rising demands from an ageing population, together with higher public expectations driven by clinical developments, mean there is likely to be a substantial “funding gap” to be met by improvements in ‘productivity and efficiency’ – for want of a better term. The NHS Chief Executive estimates that savings of around £25 billion will be required to maintain the quality of care that is currently on offer.

The good news is that rather than wait until obstructive sleep apnoea is so severe that it demands supervised medical care, including the costly use of CPAP, a pump that is used all night to force air through a face mask, it can be stopped easily – and often reversed as well.

Mild and moderate OSA sufferers need only to undertake a programme of simple oral appliance therapy to do this. This recent recommendation was made by a team of medical experts at the UK’s leading specialist centre for sleep disorders. Papworth Hospital is world-renowned in its field and it leads the way as Britain’s top heart and lung specialist hospital, as well as having the largest respiratory support and sleep centre in the UK.

The team at Papworth tested a range of different types of oral appliances and stated that SleepPro Custom should be used as the foremost appliance to treat mild OSA, and also that it should replace CPAP for moderate OSA sufferers – particularly the many who disliked the uncomfortable side effects of CPAP, and often stopped using it because of this.

If you do this for yourself, and the NHS does the same in its turn, then not only will it safeguard your future health, but also free up NHS budget for other things. It’s a very small cost to extend or even save your life.

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Snoring is in your genes – so If you snore – your children will

There’s bad news for any children whose parents constantly keep them awake at night snoring – they are very likely to follow in their parents’ footsteps and be noisy sleepers too.

Children whose parents suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea – of which snoring is a major symptom – have a much higher chance of having the condition than children whose parents do not, according to new research from New Zealand which has found a genetic link. The co-researcher of the study Dr Angela Campbell said the consequences could be serious, so it was important problems were picked up early.

Obstructive sleep apnoea, often referred to as OSA, is a major sleep breathing disorder that occurs when the muscles in the back of the throat close off the airway during sleep. This can happen for various reasons but the main one is being overweight.

However, as well as keeping the family awake all night, sleep apnoea can affect a child’s learning at school by hindering their ability to retain information, making them more sleepy during the day and more prone to developing cardiovascular issues such as hypertension later in life.

The study involved asking children whose parents had obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), and others whose parents were low risk, various questions about symptoms that related to snoring and sleep apnoea.

It found a significantly larger number of the children whose parents had sleep apnoea appeared to exhibit the related symptoms such as snoring, restlessness at night, breathing through the mouth, sweating in the night and hyperactivity during the day. The children whose parents had sleep apnoea were more likely to snore loudly and to have crowded or small airways.

Current estimates in New Zealand said about 20 per cent of adults had sleep apnoea. It was twice as common in men. Between 5 and 10 per cent of adults had severe sleep apnoea. Most were overweight.

Factors that contributed to sleep apnoea included facial structure, which could be genetic, and being overweight.

NZ Respiratory and Sleep Institute clinical director Dr Andrew Veale said it was not surprising there was a link between parents who had sleep apnoea and their children because certain bone structures and tongue sizes made it more likely. He said it was effectively treated in children by removing their tonsils.

Traditional treatment for adults meant the use of a system called CPAP, (continuous patient airway pressure) which is simply a pump by the bedside that forces a constant flow of air via a facemask throughout the night. This system was unpopular method for many reasons including dry mouth, noise, and even claustrophobia.

This is now only recommended for absolutely chronic sufferers.

The current approved method that is recommended for mild to moderate sufferers is a specially fitted mouthpiece called a splint. These are made bespoke for the patient’s mouth and done by using a mould that you bite into when warmed in water. It’s easy to wear and works simply to solve this major health risk. The splint moves the bottom jaw forward slightly, opening the throat so that air flows constantly and there are no more interruptions to breathing – and as a result – no snoring either.

Not only will it prevent sleep apnoea, but also there are many indications that it any previous harm is repaired.

Medical recommendations include weight loss and using a splint to stop snoring for all mild to moderate OSA sufferers.

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Falling asleep at the wheel is a worldwide problem

According to an article in last week’s Irish Times, sleep apnoea sufferers are more likely to fall asleep when they are driving. We’re always advised to take a break if we feel drowsy but a leading sleep disorders expert told a road safety conference that short rests should not be seen as a cure.

A recent survey in Ireland showed that people who suffer from sleep apnoea, a condition in which breathing is disrupted during sleep, are seven times more likely to fall asleep while driving. With 146 people killed on the country’s roads so far this year – just one below the death toll in the same period last year – Irish motorists are being cautioned about the impact the condition and tiredness can have on the risk of collisions. The Road Safety Authority (RSA) revealed statistics on how lack of sleep can lead to deaths on the roads, with fatigue believed to be a factor in one- fifth of all collisions.

Prof Walter McNicholas, who is director of the pulmonary and sleep disorders unit at St Vincent’s University Hospital, said short rests should not be seen as a cure for tiredness, but as a temporary relief.

“Untreated sleep apnoea is associated with high levels of sleepiness, which makes driving incredibly dangerous,” he said. “When treated effectively, sleep apnoea is incredibly manageable, so awareness of the signs and early diagnosis is key.”

Prof McNicholas said evidence from research into the cause of road crashes shows, on average, a fifth to a quarter of all motorway crashes are due to excessive sleepiness. The RSA said a survey of driver attitudes and behaviour carried out last year showed that as many as one in 10 Irish motorists admitted they have fallen asleep at the wheel at some point.

In the same week, similar safety initiatives were launched in other countries.

The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) launched a new initiative to raise awareness of important health issues in the trucking industry, starting with obstructive sleep apnoea, and released the first in a series of health fact sheets for its members.

Developed in partnership with the Sleep Health Foundation, the first sheet focuses on sleep apnoea, a condition that affects as many as 40 per cent of Australia’s long distance truck drivers. The sheet outlines the symptoms, including fatigue and heavy snoring, and the steps drivers can take to diagnose and treat the condition.

Long distance drivers in the USA, or ‘Truckers’ as they are termed, have had to come to terms with strict new medical guidelines recently. If they are diagnosed with OSA, and the condition is properly treated with a suitable and approved oral appliance, then they may continue to drive. The present guidance suggests that compliance for treated OSA is that the driver be treated for at least four hours a night and for at least 70% of the time (seven out of 10 nights). Without this, the trucker will lose his licence.

Further to similar statements by Government Motoring Departments in other countries, the DVLA in Britain has made a statement that a greater awareness of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) could save lives and have underlined the fact that OSA is thought to cause as many as one-fifth of accidents on Britain’s motorways.

Approved oral appliances for mild to moderate OSA include British-made SleepPro Custom. The SleepPro Custom was recommended as the best oral appliance for sleep apnoea after stringent testing of a selection of oral appliances that were conducted in 2014 at Papworth Hospital, the leading UK Hospital and an authority for sleep disorders of this kind.

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