Sleep apnea is a potentially deadly condition. It can kill through cardiovascular complications, dementia, cancer, kidney failure, and even car accidents. Fortunately, sleep apnea is treatable. Unfortunately, the most-prescribed sleep apnea treatment, CPAP, only helps about half of the patients prescribed. That’s because people find the treatment uncomfortable and inconvenient, so they [...]
In Mediterranean cultures, napping is a normal part of the daily routine. It’s part of people’s normal sleep pattern, and it’s associated with positive health, presumably because it helps relieve stress. However, in cultures where napping is not a normal part of a routine, it may be a sign of {{{{link id='50309' text='sleeping problems'}}}} [...]
Sleep is a powerful restorative for all parts of your body, including your brain. During sleep, your brain cleans itself of waste chemicals it generates during the day. When the brain can’t do that because sleep apnea interrupts sleep, the waste builds up in the brain, contributing to dementia. Now a [...]
If you clench your teeth at night, you might blame many different problems. Perhaps you have stress at work or home. Maybe you have bad dreams. Maybe you suspect jaw problems. However, there is one crucial cause of nighttime teeth clenching, also called sleep bruxism, that needs investigating: sleep apnea. If you think you [...]
Last week, the US Preventive Services Task Force issued its findings on sleep apnea screening. The independent panel, comprised of national experts who volunteer their time to consider disease prevention and evidence-based medicine issues, said there was currently not enough evidence to recommend for or against sleep apnea screening for people [...]
