Claim: Mending broken sleep: Sleep apnea, the dangerous cessation of breathing during sleep, is being diagnosed more and more. A simple machine can bring refreshing relief
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Sleep surgery
text: have other features as well, such as heated humidifiers. CPAP is the most effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, in which the pressure from CPAP prevents the airway from collapsing or becoming blocked. A mandibular advancement device or mandibular advancement splint may be used in select patients as treatment for mild or moderate OSA. Where appropriate, they are considered a good therapy choice as they are non-invasive, easily reversible, quiet, and generally well accepted by the patient. The focus of improvement in appliance design is in reducing bulk, permitting free jaw movement (i.e., yawning, speaking, and drinking), and allowing the

title: Sleep apnea
text: people are told to avoid alcohol, sleeping pills, and other sedatives, which can relax throat muscles, contributing to the collapse of the airway at night. For moderate to severe sleep apnea, the most common treatment is the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or automatic positive airway pressure (APAP) device. These splint the person's airway open during sleep by means of pressurized air. The person typically wears a plastic facial mask, which is connected by a flexible tube to a small bedside CPAP machine. With proper use, CPAP improves outcomes. Whether or not it decreases the risk of

title: Sleep apnea
text: the bloodstream. Chemoreceptors in the blood stream note the high carbon dioxide levels. The brain is signaled to awaken the person, which clears the airway and allows breathing to resume. Breathing normally will restore oxygen levels and the person will fall asleep again. Sleep apnea may be diagnosed by the evaluation of symptoms, risk factors and observation, (e.g., excessive daytime sleepiness and fatigue) but the gold standard for diagnosis is a formal sleep study (polysomnography, or sometimes a reduced-channels home-based test). A study can establish reliable indices of the disorder, derived from the number and type of event per hour

title: Mandibular advancement splint
text: apnea. They may bring the level of apnea a patient experiences down significantly but fail to completely eliminate it. A meta-analysis of 51 randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of CPAP and oral devices on blood pressure found that oral devices were equally effective as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices in lowering the blood pressure of patients suffering from OSA. The medical dental sleep appliance, or MDSA, was clinically proven to conclusively show in a large and complex randomized controlled study that CPAP and MAS are effective in treating sleep-disordered breathing in subjects with AHI 5–30. CPAP was thought

title: Sleep medicine
text: an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, is indicated. The treatments prevent airway collapse, which interrupts breathing during sleep. A 2001 study published by Hans-Werner Gessmann in the Journal of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Psychology found that patients who practiced a series of electrical stimulations of suprahyoidal tongue muscles for 20 minutes a day showed a marked decline in sleep apnea symptoms after two months. Patients experienced an average of 36% fewer apnea episodes after successfully completing the treatments. Sleep medicine Sleep medicine is a medical specialty or subspecialty devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of sleep disturbances and disorders. From the

title: Mandibular advancement splint
text: According to the current American Academy of Sleep Medicine treatment guidelines, Oral appliances should be considered for patients with snoring or minor to moderate sleep apnea, or as an alternative to CPAP in non compliant patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea. Where appropriate, they are considered a good therapy choice as they are non-invasive, easily reversible, quiet, and generally well accepted by the patient. The focus of improvement in appliance design is in reducing bulk, permitting free jaw movement (permitting yawning, speaking, and drinking), and allowing the user to breathe through the mouth (early "welded gum shield"-type devices prevented oral

title: Sleep apnea
text: loss. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists discovered that people with sleep apnea have mammillary bodies that are about 20 percent smaller, particularly on the left side. One of the key investigators hypothesized that repeated drops in oxygen lead to the brain injury. In pure central sleep apnea or Cheyne–Stokes respiration, the brain's respiratory control centers are imbalanced during sleep. Blood levels of carbon dioxide, and the neurological feedback mechanism that monitors them, do not react quickly enough to maintain an even respiratory rate, with the entire system cycling between apnea and hyperpnea, even during wakefulness. The sleeper stops

title: Sleep apnea
text: per hour must occur. Treatment may include lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, breathing devices, and surgery. Lifestyle changes may include avoiding alcohol, losing weight, stopping smoking, and sleeping on one's side. Breathing devices include the use of a CPAP machine. Without treatment, sleep apnea may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, obesity, and motor vehicle collisions. OSA affects 1 to 6% of adults and 2% of children. It affects males about twice as often as females. While people at any age can be affected, it occurs most commonly among those 55 to 60 years old. Central

title: Positive airway pressure
text: Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway becomes narrow as the muscles relax naturally during sleep. This reduces oxygen in the blood and causes arousal from sleep. The CPAP machine stops this phenomenon by delivering a stream of compressed air via a hose to a nasal pillow, nose mask, full-face mask, or hybrid, splinting the airway (keeping it open under air pressure) so that unobstructed breathing becomes possible, therefore reducing and/or preventing apneas and hypopneas. It is important to understand, however, that it is the air pressure, and not the movement of the air, that prevents the apneas. When

title: Sleep deprivation
text: use of stimulant drugs. Sleep deprivation is also self-imposed to achieve personal fame in the context of record-breaking stunts. Obstructive sleep apnea is often caused by collapse of the upper airway during sleep, which reduces airflow to the lungs. It has many serious health outcomes if untreated. Positive airway pressure therapy using a CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure), APAP or BPAP devices is considered to be the first line treatment option for sleep apnea. Mandibular displacement devices in some cases can reposition the jaw and tongue to prevent the airway from collapsing. For some patients supplemental oxygen therapy may be

title: Sleep medicine
text: a lifestyle in conformity with their sleeping schedules have no need of treatment, though they may need the diagnosis in order to avoid having to meet for appointments or meetings during their sleep time. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines and oral appliances are used nightly at home to manage sleep-related breathing disorders such as apnea. In mild cases in obese people, weight reduction may be sufficient, but it is usually recommended as an adjunct to CPAP treatment since sustaining weight loss is difficult. In some cases, upper airway surgery, generally performed by an otolaryngologist/head & neck surgeon or occasionally

title: Sleep apnea
text: Men are more likely to suffer sleep apnea than women and children are, though it is not uncommon in the last two population groups. The risk of OSA rises with increasing body weight, active smoking and age. In addition, patients with diabetes or "borderline" diabetes have up to three times the risk of having OSA. Common symptoms include loud snoring, restless sleep, and sleepiness during the daytime. Diagnostic tests include home oximetry or polysomnography in a sleep clinic. Some treatments involve lifestyle changes, such as avoiding alcohol or muscle relaxants, losing weight, and quitting smoking. Many people benefit from sleeping

title: Sleep apnea
text: due to side effects. An oral appliance, often referred to as a mandibular advancement splint, is a custom-made mouthpiece that shifts the lower jaw forward and opens the bite slightly, opening up the airway. These devices can be fabricated by a general dentist. Oral appliance therapy (OAT) is usually successful in patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea. While CPAP is more effective for sleep apnea than oral appliances, oral appliances do improve sleepiness and quality of life and are often better tolerated than CPAP. Nasal EPAP is a bandage-like device placed over the nostrils that utilizes a person's

title: Central sleep apnea
text: breathing patterns by restoring oxygen to the breathing muscles themselves. A diagnosis of sleep apnea requires determination by a physician. The examination may require a study of an individual in a sleep lab, although the AAST has said a two belt IHT (In Home Test) will replace a PSG for diagnosing obstructive apnea. There, the patient will be monitored while at rest, and the periods when breathing ceases will be measured with respect to length and frequency. During a PSG (polysomnography) (a sleep study), a person with sleep apnea shows breathing interruptions followed by drops/reductions in blood oxygen and increases

title: Snoring
text: (CPAP) machine is often used to control sleep apnea and the snoring associated with it. It is a relatively safe medical treatment. To keep the airway open, a device pumps a controlled stream of air through a flexible hose to a mask worn over the nose, mouth, or both. A CPAP is usually applied through a CPAP mask which is placed over the nose and/or mouth. The air pressure required to keep the airway open is delivered through this and it is attached to a CPAP machine which is like an air compressor. The air that CPAP delivers is generally

title: Christian Guilleminault
text: pressure in sleeping patients. The team observed that when patients fell asleep and began snoring, prolonged pauses in their breathing (apneas) were noted that corresponded with dramatic elevations in their resting blood pressure, simulating strenuous exercise as if the patient were lifting weights. Guilleminault then went on to publish several articles illustrating dramatic improvements and reversal of sleep apnea following tracheostomies. Tracheostomy proved curative in these patients, and demonstrated reversal of cardiac arrhythmias and blood pressure abnormalities during sleep; temporarily capping these artificial airways would re-capitulate the changes of sleep apnea, further establishing the causative relationship between sleep apnea and

title: Sleep apnea
text: (CSA), and a combination of the two called mixed. OSA is the most common form. Risk factors for OSA include being overweight, a family history of the condition, allergies, a small airway, and enlarged tonsils. In OSA, breathing is interrupted by a blockage of airflow, while in CSA breathing stops due to a lack of effort to breathe. People with sleep apnea may not be aware they have it. In many cases, it is first observed by a family member. Sleep apnea is often diagnosed with an overnight sleep study. For a diagnosis of sleep apnea, more than five episodes

title: Sleep apnea
text: Sleep apnea Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep. Each pause can last for a few seconds to a few minutes and they happen many times a night. In the most common form, this follows loud snoring. There may be a choking or snorting sound as breathing resumes. As the disorder disrupts normal sleep, those affected may experience sleepiness or feel tired during the day. In children it may cause problems in school, or hyperactivity. There are three forms of sleep apnea: obstructive (OSA), central

title: Sleep and breathing
text: is apnea either as the result of obstruction of the air passages or inadequate respiratory muscle activity. Sleep apnea (or sleep apnoea in British English; /æpˈniːə/) is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last for several seconds to several minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more in an hour. Sleep and breathing Significant physiologic changes in breathing take place during normal sleep related to alterations in respiratory drive and musculature. Set point of ventilation is different in wakefulness

title: Sleep apnea
text: 1980s CPAP was widely adopted. The availability of an effective treatment stimulated an aggressive search for affected individuals and led to the establishment of hundreds of specialized clinics dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. Though many types of sleep problems are recognized, the vast majority of patients attending these centers have sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep apnea awareness day is April 18 in recognition of Colin Sullivan. Sleep apnea Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep. Each pause can last for a few seconds