Most diseases are curable by taking medications, but in some cases medications or therapy may only control or regulate some diseases.  What then is the long-term prognosis for sleep apnoea? Can a person with sleep apnoea can hope to be totally free from it? What Causes Sleep Apnoea? Obstructive sleep apnoea is due to the collapse of a part of the airway starting from the nose and ending up on the lungs, collapses during sleep.  Breathing is repeatedly disrupted for 10 seconds or more all through the night. The most common cause of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in adults is obesity a ..read more

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a grave and rare lung disease that directly affects the pulmonary arteries, leading to elevated blood pressure. The disease causes the thickening and narrowing of the arteries that pump blood into the heart’s right ventricle. Thus, the heart of a person with PH tends to be highly stressed, which could lead to conditions such as weakened and enlarged heart, angina, and eventually heart failure. Sleep apnoea could be considered as a potentially critical sleep disease that causes a patient to repeatedly stop breathing for short periods during sleep. Sleep apnoea is ..read more

People who are over 60 and have been diagnosed with sleep apnoea could lessen the threat of enduring heart failure simply by using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask during sleep to aid with breathing. Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the study explored the link between sleep apnoea and heart failure.  Sleep apnoea  is a condition wherein a person stops breathing from 5 to 30 times per hour during sleep. Previous scientific researches and studies have indicated that people with untreated obstructive sleep apnoea  (OSA) are at risk of devel ..read more

In a recent study done by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States, it was found that older pregnant women who are overweight and who snore have an increased risk of developing interrupted breathing or sleep apnoea. The study was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and endorsed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). According to NICHD’s Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch’s Uma Reddy, M.D., the study opened the door for very a ..read more

Polysomnogram (PSG), commonly known as sleep study, is a dedicated method to monitor the various physiological changes in the body while one is sleeping.  This type of study helps sleep doctors investigate and diagnose sleep disturbance that occur during sleep.  These sleep disturbances may be medical conditions that cause daytime sleepiness and tiredness, disrupted sleep, memory lapses, lost of concentration and other comorbidities that are linked to lack of sleep. PSG is a non-invasive procedure. The sensors used may cause minor skin irritations to some but the discomfort is insign ..read more

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder that interrupts breathing during sleep. A recent study pertaining to obstructive sleep apnoea and its link to dementia was recently published in the European Respiratory Journal. The study indicated that changes in the brain during sleep apnoea episodes are directly linked to changes in the structure of the brain seen in elderly people with signs of early dementia.  Scientists at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Center said that new findings indicate that oxygen deprivation during sleep could be tied to alterations in the ..read more

Sleep apnoea and insomnia are both classified as sleeping disorders.  The two conditions have been classified; that accepted sleep medicine view is that obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and chronic insomnia are separate disorders.  However, there are now evidences that support the belief that these two sleeping disorders overlap. A study about comorbid insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea indicated that 39% up to 58% of OSA patients are also suffering from insomnia. The study showed that 43% of elderly people diagnosed with chronic insomnia have undiagnosed OSA. The question now is d ..read more

The most common sleeping disorder is obstructive sleep apnoea. Millions of people across the globe are affected by the sleeping disorder but not everyone is receiving treatment. If left untreated or poorly treated, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) will negatively impact a person – physically, mentally and even emotionally. In the last 25 years, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy has been the gold standard for treating sleep apnoea.  However, not everyone prescribed with CPAP therapy can tolerate the treatment. Alternative Sleep Apnoea Treatments In past blog articles, CPAP V ..read more

One of the core pillars of good health is sound sleep. When a person is in a state of continuous sleep deprivation, his health and quality of life decline. How many are sleep deprived? Studies indicate that in developing countries, about 150 million people are sleep deprived. In the United States alone, 1/3 of the population is not getting enough sleep. In Japan, the average sleeping hour is only 5 hours and 59 minutes.  According to research done by the Sleep Health Foundation 33%-45% of Australiana have poor sleep patterns that lead to irritability and fatigue that could lead to unsafe ..read more

Recent studies have indicated a strong link between sleep apnoea and atrial fibrillation, a condition affects over 33 million people across the world. Though atrial fibrillation may be caused by hypertension, heart disease and brought about by age, more than half of AFib patients suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). People with obstructive sleep apnoea experience at least 10 seconds of restricted breathing during sleep due to blockage in their airway.  The condition can be mild or severe, depending on the number of times a person stops breathing each hour. What is Atrial Fibrillati ..read more