Helping others sleep better every night!
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Dramatic weight loss may be an effective way to improve moderate to severe sleep apnea in obese men, scientists at the Swedish medical university, Karolinska Institute, report. Those with severe sleep apnea when the study began benefited most from weight loss.
“Our findings suggest that weight loss may be an effective treatment strategy for sleep apnea in obese men,” says Kari Johansson, one of the researchers involved in the study.
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Embla and Covidien have entered into a definitive agreement under which Embla will acquire Covidien’s Sleep Diagnostic business.
This includes the sleep diagnostic products sold under the Sandman brand name. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Completion of the sale is subject to customary closing conditions.
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There is a high probability of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in non-obese, middle-aged patients, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 9, 2009, at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
Results confirmed that OSA in non-obese patients is most prevalent in middle-aged men with larger neck sizes.
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Stroke victims who have obstructive sleep apnea die sooner than stroke victims who do not have sleep apnea or who have central sleep apnea, according to Swedish researchers, who will present their findings at the American Thoracic Society’s 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Monday, May 19.
The researchers followed 132 stroke patients over 10 years. Twenty-three of those patients had obstructive sleep apnea; 28 of those patients had central sleep apnea. Those with an obstructive apnea-hypopnea index of 15 or greater were 76 percent more likely to die earlier. Those with a lower apnea-hypopnea index of 10 were also at greater risk of early death.
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Undiagnosed and/or untreated obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain, and eventually harms the brain’s ability to modulate these changes to prevent damage to itself, according to a new study. The findings may help explain why people with undiagnosed and/or untreated sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep.
Sleep apnea is the most commonly diagnosed condition amongst sleep-related breathing disorders and can lead to debilitating and sometimes fatal consequences for the 18 million Americans who have been diagnosed with the disorder. This study identifies a mechanism behind stroke in these patients.
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Sleeping less than seven-and-a-half hours per day may be associated with future risk of heart disease, according to a report in the November 10, 2008, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, a combination of little sleep and overnight elevated blood pressure appears to be associated with an increased risk of the disease.
“Reflecting changing lifestyles, people are sleeping less in modern societies,” according to background information in the article. Getting adequate sleep is essential to preventing health conditions such as obesity and diabetes as well as several risk factors for cardiovascular disease including sleep-disordered breathing and night-time hypertension (high blood pressure).
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A small, portable device used for the home diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea has been deemed very reliable, according to research findings presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, in Chicago, IL.
According to the study, Reliability of Holter Oximetry for Home Sleep Apnea Testing, authored by researchers with the New York Otolaryngology group, 120 patients over a four-month period used Holter oximeters for home sleep testing, registering a 97 percent data recovery rate during that period. Furthermore, patients reported an average comfort score of 2 (on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the most comfortable).
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