Studies of the associations between sleep apnea and heart disease in large communities of individuals provide strong evidence that untreated sleep apnea increases the risk of developing high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke and premature death. There are known physiological mechanisms to explain how sleep apnea increases heart disease risk, which include injury of blood vessels and the heart muscle. Keep reading
Earlier this week, the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University launched a really cool challenge with cash prizes to be awarded. Why do we care, besides caring in general about the damage that occurs to some of our favorite athletes over the course of their careers? Well, this particular challenge is about - sleep apnea! The Players Study is offering a financial incentive to stimulate the creative problem solvers among us: come up with a way to improve "adherence" to CPAP therapy. Keep reading
Menopause marks the time in a woman’s life when her ovaries become depleted and no longer make the eggs or the hormones estrogen and progesterone. As a result, her menstrual periods stop. Women also commonly experience other symptoms related to these changes in their hormones, such as hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and changes in mood and sexual function. Keep reading
"The only thing that doesn't change is change itself." Whether we are involved in the pushing, the pulling, the being-dragged, or are just being sucked along in the wake, we are all moving into the era of “patient-centered” medicine and research. As you might imagine, changes to "patient-centered" healthcare are evolving at different rates in different areas, and sleep medicine in general and sleep apnea in particular are no exception. Keep reading
Several years ago Nancy Rothstein, The Sleep Ambassador®, produced this excellent video with Media Process Group. Today, sleep apnea remains widely undiagnosed and the diagnosed continue to need support. Take a look and share with those who may need a wake up call to get diagnosed and treated so they can sleep well and live well. America's Not-So-Silent Secret The America’s Not-So-Silent Secret producers request that viewers be alerted to an error at the 6:21 mark. Keep reading
This isn't a blog about how long it took before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. It isn't about finding a good sleep doctor or the sleep studies I have had. It isn't about the type of apnea I have, or about the treatment options, or what my health risk factors are with sleep apnea. These are all very important and need to be addressed and understood but this blog is about how it affects me emotionally and socially. Keep reading
Over the past two years much has been discussed here at the MyApnea forum. People from around the world have been sharing their thoughts on sleep apnea. With a growing community you find common interests and recurring themes. This word cloud displays the most common words used on the MyApnea forum. We hope you find this interesting. How will this cloud look in a few years from now? Keep talking! Your words, your experiences, your opinions are the power in patient-powered research. Keep reading
This is a simplified presentation of a topic more thoroughly discussed by Dr. Robert Thomas here. Dr. Robert Thomas discusses his professional experiences treating this condition and provides a discussion of the pathophysiology of this disorder. Keep reading
Approximately 15% of American adults (37.5 million) 18 years old and over report some trouble hearing. Hearing impairment can lower the quality of life, impair participation in daily activities, and harm cognition. In adults, about 10% of hearing loss relates to noise exposure, the other 90% associated with aging. Normal hearing requires the healthy flow of blood to the ear, so factors that cause disease in the blood vessels, such as diabetes, can cause hearing problems. Keep reading
A Patient’s Introduction In the following article, the researcher who coined the phrase "complex sleep apnea" gives an overview of this variant, one that is often poorly understood and has been variously defined. Keep reading
