Snoring problems experienced in adulthood

June 11th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Many people have personal experience in dealing with snoring.  As people age; they go through changes that can become problems later in life.  For those people who think that they may have a snoring problem, it is advisable to make an appointment with a doctor.  The doctor will try different things before recommending the person to see a specialist.  The doctor might recommend something like breathing strips or a spray before going any further.  If the snoring problem continues the doctor will recommend a specialist. 

Snoring Cessation Specialist

A specialist will do a complete assessment of the snoring problem.  Usually, there is more than one reason for having a snoring problem.  The specialist will order tests to get to the root of the problem.  Sleep apnea is often diagnosed in people who are overweight or have other physical issues.  Sleep apnea makes it difficult to breathe properly at night and it can make people tired during the workday. 

A person with sleep apnea will stop breathing during sleep.  The person will wake up and then go back to sleep and repeat the same thing.  Sometimes the person won’t wake up and for the spouse; it can be scary when the other person stops breathing.  Most people with this type of snoring problem will have to have help breathing at night.  There is a machine that is fixed to a nose mask that forces air into the lungs when breathing in.  For some people, this device takes a lot of getting used too.

Other Snoring Problems

While it is true that sleep apnea is becoming a larger problem with increasing numbers of overweight people in society, there are other causes of a snoring problem.  One other problem can be blamed on the sinuses.  The size of a person’s sinus cavity can make breathing at night harder.  The inside of the nose where the air goes up into the sinuses is the problem area.  If this part is too narrow, a person will snore at night.  Most people with this problem don’t ever realize it. 

During the day, they can breath fine, but at night when they are asleep, they don’t have control of how they are breathing.  If this snoring problem is bad enough, the person might consider seeing a doctor who does surgery in this specialty.  The surgeon can increase the inside diameter letting more air into the body.  This is a surgery that will hurt until healed, but will make a huge difference to the person in the long run.


Sleep Disorders - What Causes Sleep Disorders?

April 2nd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

There are many different reasons people develop sleep disorders. They can strike anyone at any time. The reasons may be physical, or psychological.

Sleep disorders that result in interference with the person’s mental as well as emotional functioning can be hard to combat. Allergies too play an important role in affecting the sleep patterns adversely, and sleep disorders may be considered as a group of syndromes that cause disturbance in a person’s quantity and quality of sleep.

Sleep is no doubt a basic behavior common to humans and animals, but in spite of a lot of research into the topic, researchers are still unable to completely comprehend all of its functions. Over the last 30 years, with more laboratory studies having been conducted, new information has emerged regarding cyclical patterns of different types of sleep as well as how they are related to breathing, heart rate, brain waves and more.

Besides normal sleep disorders, there are three more categories that are the result of or related to substance use or other mental or physical disorders. Depression as well as anxiety disorders cause sleep disturbances, and chronic insomnia occur due to psychiatric disorders. Using drugs, alcohol as well as caffeine is often the cause of disturbed sleep patterns, and alcohol abuse, in particular, leads to insomnia. Amphetamines or cocaine causes people to suffer from insomnia while using these drugs, and during drug withdrawal, there may be hypersomnia.

Children and Sleep Trouble

Children too suffer from sleep disorders, and according to some pediatric estimates, at least 20 to 30 per cent of children are affected. This includes sleepwalking and night terror as also narcolepsy and sleep apnea.

The causes and symptoms of sleep disorders have been studied in depth, and the most important symptoms noticed were insomnia as well as sleepiness during waking hours. The diagnosis of sleep disorders may often warrant studying the psychological history, medical history of the patient, gender and age of the patient.

To further help solve the problem of sleep disorders, doctors may need to make use of other means including asking patients to keep a sleep log to record their sleep behavior. This can help identify the severity as well as characteristics of their sleep disturbance and psychological testing to evaluate insomnia and self-report tests to assess daytime sleepiness. They can also use laboratory studies in sleep laboratories or by using portable instruments at the patient’s homes and other tests to get to the bottom of sleep disorders.

Treating sleep disorders depends on its cause, and medications such as sedatives or hypnotic medications are also used, though only for insomnia related to temporary stress or overdose. In the case of narcolepsy, stimulants may be used including dextroamphetamine sulfate or methylphenidate. Psychotherapy is also used for those having sleep disorders in conjunction with other medical disorders. Even lifestyle changes can be recommended that includes quitting smoking, avoiding alcohol or drug abuse as well as needing to lose weight so that the upper airway becomes more stable.

If you’re not sleeping well, and feel that you may be suffering from a sleep disorder, it’s best to get professional advice as soon as possible.