A little-known and poorly understood sleep disorder that occurs during the rapid eye movement, or REM, stage of sleep has been garnering attention for its role in foreshadowing neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's ...
May 26, 2023
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The prevalence of sleep disorders, like sleep apnea, is on the rise in the U.S., but current protocols to conduct clinically accepted assessments are expensive and inconvenient.
May 24, 2023
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) tests may underestimate the severity of OSA in Black patients, according to research published at the ATS 2023 International Conference.
May 23, 2023
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Results from a new clinical trial found overweight and obese patients with persistent and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) who lose weight prior to a catheter ablation procedure have improved clinical outcomes. The study, ...
May 22, 2023
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My 4-year-old son has had many episodes of painful sore throats, and his doctor recommended that his tonsils be removed. Why do kids have more trouble with their tonsils? Is there a right age to have the surgery done? I've ...
May 16, 2023
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Sleep apnea may significantly increase the risk for long COVID in adults, according to a study led by the National Institutes of Health's RECOVER Initiative and supported by NYU Langone Health as home to the effort's Clinical ...
May 11, 2023
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Around one in five people may be suffering with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a study published in ERJ Open Research.
May 10, 2023
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High blood pressure, also called hypertension, has become a public health threat—an alarming 122.4 million American adults have it, according to the American Heart Association, and only 1 in 4 have it under control.
May 10, 2023
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People who have sleep apnea and spend less time in deep sleep may be more likely to have brain biomarkers that have been linked to an increased risk of stroke, Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline, according to new research ...
May 10, 2023
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A new study finds that sleep problems can increase someone's risk of stroke. Sleep problems can include too little sleep (less than five hours), too much sleep (more than nine hours), poor quality, difficulty getting to sleep ...
May 9, 2023
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Sleep apnea (or sleep apnoea in British English) is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. Each episode, called an apnea (Greek: ἄπνοια (ápnoia), from α- (a-), privative, πνέειν (pnéein), to breathe), lasts long enough so that one or more breaths are missed, and such episodes occur repeatedly throughout sleep. The standard definition of any apneic event includes a minimum 10 second interval between breaths, with either a neurological arousal (a 3-second or greater shift in EEG frequency, measured at C3, C4, O1, or O2), a blood oxygen desaturation of 3-4% or greater, or both arousal and desaturation. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram, or a "Sleep Study".
Clinically significant levels of sleep apnea are defined as five or more episodes per hour of any type of apnea (from the polysomnogram). There are three distinct forms of sleep apnea: central, obstructive, and complex (i.e., a combination of central and obstructive) constituting 0.4%, 84% and 15% of cases respectively. Breathing is interrupted by the lack of respiratory effort in central sleep apnea; in obstructive sleep apnea, breathing is interrupted by a physical block to airflow despite respiratory effort. In complex (or "mixed") sleep apnea, there is a transition from central to obstructive features during the events themselves.
Regardless of type, the 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
