Sleep Apnea

Are smartphones disrupting your sleep?

Smartphones and tablets can make for sleep-disrupting bedfellows. One cause is believed to be the bright light-emitting diodes that allow the use of mobile devices in dimly lit rooms; the light exposure can interfere with ...

Jun 03, 2013
popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Dental sleep medicine classes reach across the border

The field of dental sleep medicine was barely out of its infancy when Tufts faculty realized the importance of training students to screen, diagnose and treat sleep disorders. In 2009, the school became the first in the U.S. ...

May 29, 2013
popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Sleep apnea (or sleep apnoea in British English; English pronunciation: /æpˈniːə/) is a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from a few seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Similarly, each abnormally low breathing event is called a hypopnea. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram, or "sleep study".

There are three forms of sleep apnea: central (CSA), obstructive (OSA), and complex or mixed sleep apnea (i.e., a combination of central and obstructive) constituting 0.4%, 84% and 15% of cases respectively. In CSA, breathing is interrupted by a lack of respiratory effort; in OSA, breathing is interrupted by a physical block to airflow despite respiratory effort, and snoring is common.

Regardless of type, an individual with sleep apnea is rarely aware of having difficulty breathing, even upon awakening. Sleep apnea is recognized as a problem by others witnessing the individual during episodes or is suspected because of its effects on the body (sequelae). Symptoms may be present for years (or even decades) without identification, during which time the sufferer may become conditioned to the daytime sleepiness and fatigue associated with significant levels of sleep disturbance.

This text uses material from Wikipedia licensed under CC BY-SA

Latest Spotlight News

Study shows cultural images may hinder proficiency in second language skills

(Medical Xpress)—A team of combined researchers from Columbia Business School and Singapore Management University has found that people who have learned a second language become less proficient at speaking ...

Key protein is linked to circadian clocks, helps regulate metabolism

Inside each of us is our own internal timing device. It drives everything from sleep cycles to metabolism, but the inner-workings of this so-called "circadian clock" are complex, and the molecular processes behind it have ...

The discerning fruit fly: Linking brain-cell activity and behavior in smell recognition

Behind the common expression "you can't compare apples to oranges" lies a fundamental question of neuroscience: How does the brain recognize that apples and oranges are different? A group of neuroscientists ...

Study suggests new approach to fight lung cancer

Recent research has shown that cancer cells have a much different – and more complex – metabolism than normal cells. Now, scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas have found that exploiting these differences might ...

Scientists catch EGFR passing a crucial message to cancer-promoting protein

Researchers have discovered and mapped the signaling network between two previously unconnected proteins, exposing a link that, if broken, could cut off cancer cell growth at its starting point.

Getting enough sleep could help prevent type 2 diabetes

Men who lose sleep during the work week may be able to lower their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by getting more hours of sleep, according to Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) research findings presented ...

Aspirin may fight cancer by slowing DNA damage

Aspirin is known to lower risk for some cancers, and a new study led by a UC San Francisco scientist points to a possible explanation, with the discovery that aspirin slows the accumulation of DNA mutations in abnormal cells ...

Balancing act: Mitochondrial protein coordinates a little-known enzyme that controls how fat is stored or burned

(Medical Xpress)—Calories in, calories out. Any dieter is familiar with the two sides of the equation for weight loss, usually reduced to eating less and exercising more. But what controls the body's balance ...

The rhythm of everything

Dawn triggers basic biological changes in the waking human body. As the sun rises, so does heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. The liver, the kidneys and many natural processes also begin shifting ...

The link between genes and cancer

(Medical Xpress)—When people think about genes and their relationship to cancer, most probably think about a person's hereditary cancer risk, especially after Angelina Jolie's recent news about her inherited ...