7 Signs You Might Have Sleep Apnea

,

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is one of the most common of the sleep disorders.

About 40% of Canadians will experience a sleep disorder during their lifetime.

Did you know that one in four Canadians is at high risk for having obstructive sleep apnea and most of those at risk are not screened for OSA? With an estimated 80% of cases going undiagnosed, many people are unaware that a sleep disorder is the underlying cause of their health problems.

So, what is apnea?

Sleep apnea is characterized by frequent breaks or pauses in breathing during sleep.

There are 3 forms of sleep apnea:

  1. Central sleep apnea (CSA) in which the pauses are due to the brain failing to signal the respiratory system to breathe;
  2. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in which breathing is interrupted by a physical blockage in the upper airways, often caused by soft tissues of the throat and tongue collapsing into the airway
  3. And complex/mixed sleep apnea which is a combination of central sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea.

Warning Sign #1: Snoring

Loud, chronic snoring is one of the most frequently cited symptoms of sleep apnea. Snoring is the sound produced by vibrations in the upper respiratory airways during sleep. It is caused by partial blockage or obstructions as air is being restricted from moving easily through the airways.

Many people who snore may not even be aware that they do so and are only alerted to it by an annoyed bedpartner whose sleep is disturbed due to the loud noises coming from the other side of the bed. While snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnea, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that the person has the disorder. Many people who snore don’t have sleep apnea, and some people with sleep apnea don’t snore.

However, if your snoring is loud, disruptive, and occurs on a nightly basis, it could very well be a sign of sleep apnea.

At Apnea Health, we can help you. Sleep apnea is easily diagnosed with a home sleep test.

Snoring man in bed with his angry partner

Warning Sign #2: Frequent breaks or pauses in breathing

In obstructive sleep apnea, the fatty tissues of the throat or tongue become relaxed during sleep and fall back into your airways which restricts airflow and causes you to stop breathing for a few seconds. During an apnea event, the oxygen levels in your blood drop. This causes your brain to wake itself from sleep long enough jump start your respiratory system into working properly again and get air past the blockage.

While your brain partially wakes up to respond to the interruption in breathing, you still remain mostly asleep without realizing that you partially awoke. But while you may not realize that you frequently wake during sleep, the constant interruptions have a negative impact on the amount and quality of sleep you get which lead to many of the other symptoms on this list.

Apnea events can occur anywhere between 5 to 30 times in an hour lasting up to 10-20 seconds at a time. Those with severe obstructive sleep apnea can experience hundreds of apnea events a night. If you’ve been told that you frequently stop breathing in your sleep, it’s time to talk with your doctor or schedule an appointment with a sleep specialist.

man lying awake in bed

Warning Sign #3: You’re Tired all the Time

While you may think you got plenty of sleep during the night because you were in bed for 7-9 hours overnight, all of those pauses and interruptions to your sleep add up to a lot of lost time in quality and quantity of nightly sleep. One of the most common (but frequently overlooked) symptoms of sleep apnea is excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). EDS is characterized by a chronic feeling of overwhelming daytime fatigue.

Common symptoms of EDS are: difficulty waking in the mornings, feeling excessively tired all day long, a general lack of energy, needing or taking frequent naps that only partially (or not at all) relieve symptoms, dozing off at inappropriate times, and difficulty concentrating among others.

Daytime drowsiness can even lead to serious accidents or even death especially if the sufferer is driving or working on or around heavy equipment or machines.

A woman yawning

Warning Sign #4: You frequently wake with headaches

Headaches are commonly reported by sufferers of sleep apnea. As you stop breathing frequently during the night, less oxygen is making its way to your brain. Low oxygen levels initiate the widening of blood vessels and can cause vascular headaches. Along with excessive daytime drowsiness, headaches are usually the symptoms that sleep apnea sufferers complain the most about as they may not be aware that they have symptoms of snoring or breaks in breathing.

Tired man lies in bed with insomnia, with alarm clock in foreground

Warning Sign #5: You Have High Blood Pressure

Hypertension is commonly linked to sleep apnea. For the same reasons you experience headaches due to frequent pauses during sleep, you can get high blood pressure. As your brain wakes from sleep as it realizes that its not receiving adequate oxygen levels in the blood it causes a spike in blood pressure as it restricts your blood vessels to kick starts your system into working again. When this happens repeatedly throughout the night to combat every apnea event, your body gets used to having to restrict its blood vessels and high blood pressure begins to persist even during the day when you are breathing normally.

Doctor using a blood pressure device on a patient

Warning Sign #6: You are overweight or obese

In many cases a person’s body weight is directly linked to having obstructive sleep apnea. People who are overweight or obese are more likely to have sleep apnea than those that maintain healthy weights. Sleep apnea can often be caused by excess fatty tissues that become built up in the neck and throat. The excess tissues can fall back into the airways during sleep causing obstructions to the airways and leading to apnea events. If your neck circumference is greater than 17 inches for men or 16 inches for women you have a higher risk of sleep apnea due to fatty tissue buildup surrounding your airways which can cause restrictions in breathing during sleep.

Woman looks at her weight while standing on a scale

Warning Sign #7: You are often irritable, depressed, or experience mood swings.

Lack of quality sleep can affect a person’s mood. Losing sleep nearly every night can make you more irritable, prone to anxiety, short-tempered, and over a long enough time even depressed. If you think your mood swings or depression may be caused by a lack of sleep contact your primary care physician to see if it’s related to a sleep disorder.

irritable man with frustrated wife

At Apnea Health We Can Help You

At Apnea Health, we diagnose and treat thousands of cases of sleep apnea every year.

Because treatment for sleep apnea through continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy or other alternative treatments is so effective, there’s no reason to have to live with apnea or any of its debilitating symptoms.

If you have experienced any of the previous symptoms it may be time to contact a sleep specialist to schedule a sleep study. Left untreated, sleep apnea can cause a whole slew of medical problems and can put you at an increased risk for many health issues including:

  • Heart failure
  • Arrhythmias
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease
  • Diabetes
  • Stroke
  • Heart attacks

home sleep test

/by

Dangerous ties between obstructive sleep apnea and diabetes

There are proven links between diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that are too strong to ignore.

While both conditions are life-altering and dangerous, treating your OSA can prevent you from developing type 2 diabetes, and if you are a diabetic who has consequently developed sleep apnea, improving your sleep with CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy can help you better manage your glucose levels and dramatically improve your overall health.

What’s OSA?

Sleep apnea is a condition where the tongue and other soft tissues at the back of the throat relax too far and block your airway while you sleep. Reduced oxygen causes an alert in your sleeping brain and you wake up slightly to re-open the airway. This kind of micro wake-up isn’t usually enough to bring you to full consciousness, but it definitely disrupts your sleep cycle, and it can happen dozens of times per hour all night without you being aware. As a result, people with OSA can spend a full eight hours “sleeping,” yet still wake up feeling exhausted.

This chronic lack of restorative sleep leads to daytime grogginess and reduced cognitive function, but it also limits your body’s ability to repair damage and fight illness, and leads to more serious issues like heart disease, strokes and yes, diabetes.

Over one in four Canadian adults are at high risk of developing sleep apnea, yet most of them are unaware of it and remain undiagnosed and untreated.

Approximately 858,900 Canadian adults reported being told by a health professional they have the condition.1 Here in Quebec, one in twenty people are diagnosed with OSA, but about 80% of those who have it are still in the dark.

what is snoring diagram e1610059642282

If you think you might have OSA

It’s important to confirm it and seek treatment to prevent possibly life-threatening consequences. Speak with a professional if you have symptoms like:

  • Loud snoring
  • Daytime fatigue
  • Morning headaches
  • Loss of concentration or memory
  • The feeling of not getting enough rest even after a long sleep
  • Nighttime breathing disturbances noticed by your partner
  • Excessive morning tiredness or lack of energy

Woman sleeping with mouth open

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a condition where the insulin your body should naturally produce is insufficient or has become ineffective at doing its job, which is to regulate the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood and transform foods into energy. Type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity, excessive high blood sugar and sleep apnea, and can bring severe health complications like nerve pain, heart disease, strokes and blindness.

It’s estimated that 5.7 million Canadians have prediabetes, and half of them will develop type 2 diabetes. Aside from a great toll on your health and lifestyle, diabetes can take a toll on your bank account – patients face direct personal costs of $1,000 to $15,000 per year in medication and diabetes supplies alone.

Diabetes detailed infographic en

Symptoms of diabetes

It’s important to talk to your doctor if you feel you have any diabetes warning signs like:

  • Frequent nighttime urination (from kidneys working overtime to filter sugar)
  • Constant hunger or constant fatigue (from the inability to fully process food energy)
  • Soft, dark patches forming on the skin around the armpits, neck or calves
  • Numbness or tingling in the feet (a warning sign of impaired blood flow that can lead to amputation)

woman massaging her numb swollen feet

Just how strong is the sleep apnea/diabetes connection?

It’s more than just a case of the two sharing a root cause, even though they have some of the same risk factors. With diabetes and OSA, each has been shown separately to increase your risk of getting the other, and both worsen your symptoms.

There are millions of Canadians living with diabetes, and roughly 90% of them have type 2 diabetes. Multiple studies have shown that more than half of people with type 2 diabetes will develop associated sleep apnea, and if they are obese that risk shoots up to over 80%.

About five and a half million Canadians have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, or are at high risk for it. Studies by Johns Hopkins and others2 have shown that sleep apnea, even counted independently of obesity, carries an elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

diabetes sleep apnea en

How does sleep apnea cause diabetes?

If you have untreated sleep apnea, you frequently stop breathing during sleep, which sends the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood out of whack. All those hours with reduced oxygen put the body under great stress, which results in an increase in blood sugar levels. Over the longer term, constant elevated blood sugar can contribute to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

How does diabetes amplify the risk of OSA? According to Dr. M. Safwan Badr, President of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), “Type 2 diabetics and people with hypertension are much more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea than other people, and as a result should immediately discuss their risk for sleep apnea with a sleep specialist.”3

diabetes testing

How CPAP helps manage diabetes or helps you avoid developing it.

There is help for management of all these risks. It has been shown that treating sleep apnea in diabetics improves nighttime glucose levels and insulin sensitivity, as well as providing the benefits of improved alertness and cognitive function, and reducing risk of other problems associated with sleep apnea. In a University of Chicago study, it was shown that even one week of CPAP therapy lowered average 24-hour glucose levels and improved post-breakfast glucose response in Type 2 diabetics with obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. Badr of the AASM has said that such treatment is proven to lower daytime blood pressure, which represents the highest risk for heart attack and stroke.3

The more severe your untreated sleep apnea is, the poorer your glucose control will be, but it has been demonstrated that treating OSA with CPAP therapy may be as effective as using oral diabetes medication to help with the issue.

guy cpap larger

Talk to your doctor

If you suspect you have obstructive sleep apnea or signs of diabetes it is important to talk to a doctor and seek immediate treatment to help you live a longer, healthier and fuller life. For more information on diabetes and its associated risks, visit Diabetes Québec, or if you have questions about sleep apnea and your sleep health, reach out to Apnea Health for help.

Male doctor with stethoscope

References

  1. https://poumonquebec.ca/en/maladies/sleep-apnea
  2. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-dangers-of-uncontrolled-sleep-apnea
  3. https://aasm.org/patients-with-type-2-diabetes-or-hypertension-must-be-evaluated-for-sleep-apnea
/by

How to get used to the CPAP machine

, , ,

So, you’ve been told you have Sleep Apnea and you need to start using a CPAP machine…

How in the world are you going to be able to adapt to sleeping with this contraption? Don’t despair!  I’m here to help you by sharing my top tips on getting used to CPAP.

Introduction

Since I began working as an RT specializing in sleep disorders at Apnea Health, I’ve helped many patients become more comfortable with their CPAP machines.  Patients often arrive at our clinic with positive feedback from a friend, family member or colleague who told them how CPAP treatment has changed their lives, how their adaptation was easy and that from the first night it was a success. I’ll be honest with you, this ease of adaptation is not the norm.

Surely you’re wondering how long it will take for a CPAP to improve your sleep apnea symptoms. An article published by the National Sleep Foundation reports that “most patients will require a period of adjusting to the presence of the CPAP mask … anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.”1 Don’t be alarmed if it’s even longer.

One of our secretaries (who has the benefit of CPAP support every day) took 6 months to sleep through the night without removing the mask.  Of course, this is rare, but it does occur.  The good news is that she’s been using her CPAP for 5 years now and sleeping through the night.  The key to her success was perseverance and patience.

Chantale Hébert, Respiratory Therapist with a patient

Practice Patience

I always tell my patients to be…(pardon the clichéd pun) patient! Don’t expect miracles overnight.  While some people feel benefits after just one night, most take at least a month.  Remember that you’ve been experiencing poor sleep quality for a number of years and that it will take more than one night’s sleep before you regain all your energy and feel better.

The key is to go easy on yourself.  It will take some time to get used to your new bedfellow.  Give yourself a chance to get used to wearing the mask and feeling this new surge of air.  Essentially, you need to desensitize yourself to wearing a mask and using a CPAP.

Practice makes perfect!

Doing something you’ve never done before requires some practice.  Since you’re new to the mask and the CPAP, I recommend wearing it as much as possible BEFORE bedtime so you have time to get used to it.

Here are a few scenarios to consider as opportunities to train yourself:

  • If you take naps during the day, put on your CPAP. What better way to ease into life with a mask?  This short term effort will get you accustomed to the long term commitment of sleeping with the mask all night.
  • If you have a tendency to be claustrophobic, practice wearing the mask with the CPAP running during the day. This will allow you to get used to the air pressure. You might want to use your CPAP while you watch TV in the living room, read, knit, etc. This will occupy your brain with something else instead of focusing on having a mask on and breathing.
  • Wear your CPAP 10-15 minutes before bedtime. Wearing the mask and feeling the air surge when you are awake will allow you to acclimate to it and put yourself in a more relaxed state.  As sleep approaches, just close your eyes and drift off…

woman adjusting the settings on her Resmed Airsense

Deal with discomfort right away

Sleep apnea mask discomfort — this is one of the most searched CPAP phrases on Google and it is no wonder.  People might buy a mask online or go to a homecare provider for equipment and then never return for support, but studies prove that “close follow-up, using a nurse-led or respiratory- therapist-led program … is vital for a successful outcome.”2

That’s why my colleagues and I are here to help you!

We know that patients who don’t address small discomforts early on are more likely to abandon treatment. To prevent this, as soon as you experience discomfort with your mask, or problems with the air pressure or humidity, please call us or come into the clinic so we can help you.

Don’t be discouraged.  My colleagues and I are experts at troubleshooting CPAP related problems and we have the support and knowledge of our respirologists (sleep doctors) to direct us.

mask irritation

Celebrate the Small (and Big) Successes

  • No snoring – (perhaps the biggest success for your longsuffering bed partner!)
  • Fewer sleep interruptions
  • Fewer visits to the bathroom
  • Easier time waking up in the morning
  • Fewer or no headaches
  • No need to nap in the daytime

You may not realize it, but while you are achieving these smaller, more measurable successes, you are gaining even more long term  health benefits.

Your heart says “THANK YOU”. You are giving your heart a break from nights of surges in your heart rate as your body struggles to deliver more O2. Less wear and tear on your heart can help with hypertension issues and prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Your life will change. Your renewed energy stores will allow you to accomplish more – more energy to keep up with your kids, garden, jog. You won’t be too tired to go out or fall asleep during your favorite Netflix movie binge.

People will notice. Perhaps the least measurable but most noticeable change will be your mood. Now that you aren’t tired all the time you will feel better, enjoy life and the people around you!

Demonstrate N30i mask

Take an active and positive part in your treatment

Widespread clinical trials show that treatment with a CPAP machine will improve quality of life, but also that improvement depends on consistent use.3 So take charge of your treatment and make sure you’re getting the most out of it!  Learn more about sleep apnea and the benefits of using CPAP, and familiarize yourself with consequences of untreated apnea. Learn and practice regular maintenance for your CPAP machine.

Begin treatment with a positive outlook and even if you experience hurdles, you will be able to overcome them with help from me and the rest of the team.

Want to learn more? Our newsletter will help you learn about sleep, lifestyle tips and treatment:

Get sleep news, tips and promos

Stay in touch with me, your respiratory therapist!

My colleagues and I are here to help you at Apnea Health. We are respiratory therapists trained in sleep. We have a wealth of experience to share with you.  If, for example, you are struggling with a mask or pressure, call us and we will make the necessary adjustments.  Don’t try to troubleshoot on your own.  Let us help!  Remember that when you come to Apnea Health for CPAP therapy, you’ll benefit from our Care for Life program.

valleyfield team 2

1. Atwood, Jr., MD, Charles. “Sleep and CPAP Adherence”. Published on the National Sleep Foundation’s website. Accessed August 14, 2018.

2. Andreea Antonescu-Turcu, MD and Sairam Parthasarathy, MD. “CPAP and Bi-level PAP Therapy: New and Established Roles”. Published in the medical journal Respiratory Care, June 22, 2011. Accessed on August 14, 2018.

3. Weaver, Terri E., et al. “Relationship Between Hours of CPAP Use and Achieving Normal Levels of Sleepiness and Daily Functioning”. Published in the medical journal Sleep, June 1, 2007. Accessed August 14, 2018.

/by

Does anyone die from not sleeping?

Dead tired, finished, run-down, done in, dead on your feet – all are colourful ways of saying you’re exhausted from lack of sleep.

But can you actually die from not sleeping?

Well, yes and no.

In the short term, evidence that people can keel over and die from staying awake too long is scant and anecdotal at best. At the same time, there’s a direct relationship between chronic sleep deprivation and a range of negative consequences – from heart disease to diabetes to depression – any one of which can shorten your lifespan. For untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) sufferers, a constant state of tiredness isn’t just a minor irritant, it’s of grave concern.

Man awake in bed next to symbols of depression, heart issues and diabetes

Taking wakefulness to the extreme

In a few documented cases, people have experimented with staying awake as long as possible, just to see what would happen. It generally didn’t go well. Dr. Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist, author and sleep specialist at UC Berkley in California can attest to the strange effects that can happen after missing a night of sleep. Speaking with the Berkley News in 2017, he related the tale of a memory experiment where a handful of students stayed up all night in his campus lab: by morning a pair of football players were found crazily grinning, with lipstick and mascara smeared on their faces by some female students in the sleep-deprivation room. “It was a striking demonstration of the emotional and personality impact of insufficient sleep” observed Walker.

heavily caffeinated woman tightly holding a cup of coffee

After just one night of no sleep, stress hormones and blood pressure are increased.

By three nights of sleeplessness, the brain’s executive function is impaired, and multitasking, attention span and short-term memory are all dramatically impacted. It only goes downhill from there: “I mean, it was crazy, where you couldn’t remember things, it was almost like an early Alzheimer’s thing brought on by lack of sleep,” reminisced a man named Randy Gardner, decades after subjecting himself to an experiment where he stayed awake for a staggering 11 days. It’s no wonder forced sleep deprivation has been recognized as a form of torture by the United Nations.

man with jumper cables and a cup of coffee

Even a little lost sleep is a lot

Gardner didn’t die from staying awake for 11 days. Others who pushed the envelope have actually died in the attempt, though there were usually other factors at play (mainly industrial doses of caffeine and other stimulant drugs, which almost certainly caused harm themselves). However, even losing a little sleep can have a big impact. According to Walker, we need look no further than daylight savings time for a jarring example. When we “spring forward” and lose an hour of sleep once a year, we see an average increase of 24% in heart attacks the next day. Not surprisingly, there’s a 21% decrease in heart attacks after the night we “fall back” and gain an hour of sleep. When we lose an hour, there are also increases in car accidents, work injuries, mood disorders and even suicides. It’s pretty clear the cost of losing even an hour of sleep can be high, so imagine what happens if your sleep is short-changed on a regular basis.

Side view of a head made of clocks

Sleep debt adds up

Ever hear the expression, ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead?’ It goes against logic, but there’s been a certain bravado attached to sacrificing sleep, especially for work. But watch out – embracing a ‘sleep when I’m dead’ attitude might just make it come true sooner than you think: most adults need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night to maintain health and operate at their best. The long-term effects of all that lost sleep? A compromised immune system, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, mood and social struggles, car accidents, reduced sex drive, early dementia and more. All of these serious issues are linked to sleep deficiency, and they only get worse over time.

Half-asleep man drinking coffee in the morning

Even with the desire to sleep, people with untreated sleep apnea can suffer a similar fate.

Instead of throwing away hours of sleep to burn the midnight oil, OSA sufferers go through nightly sleep deprivation, losing the equivalent of hours of restful sleep, but for them it happens a few seconds at a time. The micro-wakeups they go through, sometimes dozens of times an hour, cumulatively build their sleep debt. Worse, the disruptions prevent them from achieving a prime REM state – the time of night when the body repairs itself. Even if they’re snoring away for 8 hours, they wind up not getting enough deep, restorative sleep – and still waking up groggy. Sleep apnea is easily diagnosed with a home sleep test. At Apnea Health, we can guarantee an appointment within 48 hours and results in 3 weeks.

home sleep test

So, what’s the bottom line?

At the end of the day, if you’re otherwise healthy, you probably won’t drop dead from missing some sleep on the odd night. But chronically missing sleep can take you out of the “otherwise healthy” category in the longer term, so it’s critical to maximize restorative sleep (along with maintaining other healthy habits) for a long, healthy and happy life.

Happy well rested woman with sleeping husband in background

/by

NFL Stars With Sleep Apnea

,

Did you know that roughly 1/3 of NFL players suffer from sleep apnea?¹

That statistic may be surprising, but it makes sense that the size and strength required to be a pro-football player can also increase health problems off the field. However, with the help of their CPAP treatment, NFL stars with sleep apnea were still able to be at the top of their game. Here’s a list of some of the greatest NFL athletes who were diagnosed with sleep apnea!

Ryan Jensen

“I honestly think that if I wouldn’t have got diagnosed and caught it within time, I wouldn’t be in the NFL anymore,” says Jensen.² At the beginning of his NFL career, Jensen was losing his strength and feeling restless after a full 8 hours of sleep. This affected his performance, and resulted in him being cut from the Baltimore Ravens’ roster.

Jensen father suggested he get tested for sleep apnea. After just one month of sleep therapy, Jensen grew stronger and returned to the Ravens.

Whether your career depends on CPAP like Jensen, it’s safe to say your life wouldn’t be the same without it. That’s why health insurance often covers essential sleep therapy supplies.

Ryan Jensen

Shop CPAP Masks

ESON 2 CPAP mask from Fisher & Paykel

ESON 2

P10 for her

AirFit P10 for Her

The Brevida Nasal Pillows Mask from Fisher & Paykel

Brevida

Brett Favre

During his 16 seasons with the Packers, Brett Favre was the first and only NFL player to win three consecutive AP MVP awards, and helped his team win Super Bowl XXXI. He would not have been able to lead his team to victory if he didn’t use his CPAP.

Brett Favre in football gear, ready to throw the ball during a game

Reggie White

NFL legend, aka the “Minister of Defense,” played defensive end for 15 seasons and 13 consecutive Pro Bowls.

White passed in his sleep at the young age of 43 due to his untreated sleep apnea.³

Reggie White

Warren Sapp

7-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Warren Sapp was honored NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1999. He struggled with poor sleep for years before seeking treatment.

Since then, he has “made a firm commitment to prevent undiagnosed sleep apnea from threatening my life and the lives of millions like me.”⁴

Warren Sapp

Using a CPAP is the first step to maintaining your health.

It’s also important to routinely clean your CPAP equipment for the most effective sleep therapy.

Lumin CPAP cleaning and disinfecting machine

Lumin UV-C Sterilizer

cleaning kit grapefruit

Cleaning Kit – Grapefruit

cleaning kit mint

Cleaning Kit – Grapefruit

soap wipes

Cleaning Kit – Soaps and Wipes

Source:

  1. https://www.sleepdr.com/the-sleep-blog/13-of-nfl-players-have-sleep-apnea/
  2. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/nfl-star-ryan-jensen-sleep-apnea-diagnosis-saved/story?id=49688843
  3. https://www.medpagetoday.org/primarycare/sleepdisorders/298
  4. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nfl-legend-warren-sapp-champions-130000636.html?affiliate_source=7
/by

CPAP And Your Heart Health

How sleep apnea is linked to your heart

Sleep apnea is dangerous for your heart and cardiovascular system because it deprives the body of oxygen.

Each time you struggle to breathe during the night due to your obstructive sleep apnea: you get less oxygen in your system, and your heart has to work much harder to get more blood flowing around your body.

The increase in effort from your heart can cause high blood pressure and other heart problems such as heart attacks and strokes. The good news is, using CPAP may help both sleep apnea and heart health at the same time.

Study: “CPAP Compliance Key to Reducing Cardiovascular Risks of Sleep Apnea”

The researchers at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine observed participants who were recently diagnosed with sleep apnea.

By testing them before starting CPAP treatment and then again 3 months into their treatment, they were able to see how quickly

CPAP treatment could affect heart health. They found:

  • Patients with high compliance showed huge improvements in blood pressure
  • Low-compliance test subjects didn’t see any results
  • For those that stopped with high compliance, the benefits quickly disappeared
  • How to use your CPAP to reduce cardiovascular risks

heart health woman

Make sure you have working supplies

When your supplies are old, the therapy will become less and less effective. Because this happens slowly over time, most folks end up not noticing it. Instead, they will tighten their mask a little more, thinking they just need the seal a little closer.

Eventually this leads to over-tightening that can cause pain, marks, and the annoying “hot mask” feeling. The less comfortable your CPAP supplies are, the harder it is to stay compliant and get your CPAP benefits. You can avoid this by replacing your supplies regularly.

Consult our schedule for replacing your mask and supplies:

replacement schedule en 1

Shop replacement kits

To make it even EASIER to replace your supplies, we offer replacement kits for the most CPAP machines!

Shop all kits

Make sure you have the right pressure.

Sleep studies are no longer needed to ensure machines are providing the right pressure. Instead, newer CPAP machines are now auto-titrating, meaning they adjust to your needs breath-by-breath to give the most effective pressure needed all night.

Today, ResMed, Respironics and Fisher and Paykel devices have automatic comfort settings to help you stay CPAP compliant:

  • Humidification: 7 levels of humidity and an optional heated tube ensures you don’t dry out
  • Expiratory Pressure Relief reduces pressure upon exhale, avoiding high pressure mask leaks
  • AutoRamp: Starts your sleep therapy at a low pressure so you fall asleep more comfortably

If your equipment is up-to-date and you’re still having trouble with your CPAP treatment, please contact us for a free CPAP Check Up. Apnea Health is here to help you get on the path to better sleep!

woman adjusts settings on her CPAP machine

Related Links:

/by

CPAP and Your Sexual Health

How CPAP is linked to better sex and sexual health

Sleep apnea is harmful for your sex life, especially for men.

Between lowered oxygen to your brain at night and negative effects on your mood and heart, your body will incur other frustrating side effects from untreated sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea reduces the quality of your sleep and that takes a toll on you all day long, all the way to your time in bed.

Along with sleepiness and headaches, sleep apnea’s effect on your body’s blood flow can lead to premature erectile dysfunction in men, as well as lowered sexual ability and enjoyment. In fact, 10-60% of OSA patients may develop erectile dysfunction.¹ The reduced blood flow impairs your bodily functions, especially with areas that only get activated under certain circumstances, like your sexual organs.

Man and woman sit in bed looking uncomfortable

Study findings on CPAP and sexual health

The good news is, using CPAP may help both sleep apnea and your sex life at the same time. Researchers have found that using CPAP can:

  • Reverse early onset erectile dysfunction¹
  • Improve your ability to enjoy and participate in sex²
  • Prevent sleep apnea induced damage to fertility tissue in men³

Learn more about the hidden link between snoring and low sex drive

man wearing cpap mask cuddles his wife in bed

REMINDER: Replace your CPAP supplies regularly

To make the most of your sleep therapy, you should replace your CPAP accessories regularly. It’ll help reduce issues like leaks from aging masks, and keep your machine running efficiently. At the same time, you’ll lower the risk of accumulating bacterial or fungal growth. Insurance covers CPAP supplies yearly. Check out the CPAP replacement schedule and allow us to check with your insurance provider to see what they will cover (for free!). Click below to get started.

Resmed ClimateLine Heated Tube for S9 Series

Need replacement parts?

To make it even EASIER to replace your supplies, we offer replacement kits for the most CPAP machines!

Shop all kits

If you’re noticing trouble in the bedroom, first you may want to make sure that your CPAP is working optimally.

You can reach out to us for a FREE CPAP Check-up at one of your local clinics. Apnea Health is always here to help.

Respiratory therapist speaking to patient about their CPAP treatment

References

  1. “Men using CPAP see improvement in sexual function, satisfaction” American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
  2. “Outcome of CPAP Treatment on Intimate and Sexual Relationships in Men with Obstructive Sleep Apnea” Reishtein et al.
  3. “Sleep Apnea as a Potential Threat to Reproduction” Hirotsu et al.
/by

Dealing with the growing problem of insomnia in Canada

,

Tossing and turning in her bed for the third time that week, Sylvie sat up and glanced at her alarm clock in frustration.

3:37 AM, it read – which meant she had been awake for more than two hours. Again.

Although she’d gone to bed at a decent hour and fallen asleep right away, here she was wide awake, knowing that in a few short hours she’d have to get up, make her way to work, and somehow find the energy to get through that big presentation to the new client that her boss was counting on her to bring in.

Sylvie flopped down on the bed. She was so tired – so why couldn’t she fall asleep?

Sylvie’s experience is not uncommon.

Here in Canada, insomnia is on the rise.  A new study conducted by Dr. Charles M. Morin at Université Laval revealed that 40% of Canadians had experienced one or more symptoms of insomnia at least three times a week in the preceding month and only 13% said they had consulted their doctor about it.

“Many people who suffer from insomnia try to treat the problem themselves rather than consulting a healthcare professional,” said Dr. Morin. His survey revealed that Canadians use prescription medicine (10%), natural products (9%), over-the-counter drugs (7%), or alcohol (5%) to treat their sleep problems. “This is not a good idea because we don’t know the risks and benefits of products that have not been approved by government health agencies,” he explained.

pie chart showing a tired man in 40% and a sleeping one in the remaining 60%

What is Insomnia?

Insomnia is a sleep disorder whereby you can’t fall asleep, even though you want to, or you can’t stay asleep long enough. It is generally defined as taking more than 15 minutes to fall asleep, being awake and unable to fall back asleep from periods of 30 minutes or more during the night, and/or sleeping less than five hours per night. Acute insomnia can afflict you for just a few days, or it can become a chronic condition, depriving you of rest for months or even years.

It can also make a person exhausted, moody, irritable, accident-prone, anxious, and less able to think straight or remember things. Over the long term, insomnia is also linked to conditions like obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.

woman staring at her alarm clock in the middle of the night

Insomnia Rates in Canada

Insomnia affects all segments of the population, including children and the elderly. According to a recent survey1, half of Canadian adults have trouble going to sleep or staying asleep. One in five adults do not find their sleep refreshing, and one in 3 have difficulty staying awake during waking hours. Younger adults are more likely to report problems falling asleep, whereas middle-aged and older adults find it harder to stay asleep throughout the night.

Insomnia is more prevalent among women, middle-aged and older adults, and individuals who say they are in poor physical or mental health. It’s also more common among lower-income Canadians. And insomnia is on the rise – the report notes an increase of 42% in insufficient sleep among Canadians from 2007 to 2015.

tired woman rubbing temples

Insomnia Costs Us All

A recent study2 estimated the total annual cost of insomnia in the province of Quebec alone to be $6.6 billion. This total includes direct costs associated with healthcare consultations and products used to promote sleep (including medications and self-administered aids such as alcohol), as well as indirect costs arising from lost resources (absenteeism and reduced productivity) associated with insomnia.

The study also found that insomnia costs those who suffer from it in particular, both directly and indirectly. The average cost to someone suffering from insomnia is $5,010 annually, which includes indirect costs such as reduced productivity and lost revenue as well as direct costs like medications.

a pile of money

What causes insomnia?

Stress and Worry

Stress and worry are two of the most common disruptors to the sleep cycle – more than half of insomnia cases are caused by a troubled mind. If you are dreading an upcoming event, it can be difficult to put it out of your mind at bedtime. Our dependence on devices such as smartphones may lead us to check work emails right before bed, causing job-related stress that contributes to worry as you try to fall asleep.

Ongoing stress, such as worry about work, school, money or a relationship, can intrude on your sleep on a regular basis. And major life events, such as a job loss, divorce, or the death of a loved one often cause insomnia. People with depression, anxiety, dementia, or mental disorders are far more likely to have sleep problems, including insomnia.

In Sylvie’s case, a recent round of layoffs at work and a new, abrasive boss had her worrying about her job security and financial stability. She was working later hours to demonstrate her worth – and skipping regular exercise, which could have helped her manage the stress better.

stressed out man, rubbing temples

Substances and Medications

Sylvie had started having an extra cup or two of coffee in the morning, to shake off the brain fog she got out of bed with most days. To relax after a hard day at the office, she regularly had a few glasses of wine in the evenings as well. Both caffeine and alcohol, however, can affect the ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and enjoy a restful night.

Caffeine is well-known as a stimulant, but its effects can last for several hours, so the chances of it affecting sleep are significant. Caffeine not only makes it hard to fall asleep, but can also cause you to wake up during the night. Alcohol may have a sedative effect for a few hours, but as it is metabolized by the body it can rouse you from sleep and affect sleep quality as well.

Many medications, such as decongestants or asthma inhalers, are also stimulants and can disrupt sleep. Other drugs that might cause insomnia include allergy medications and those for heart disease, hypertension, thyroid problems, and depression.

a pile of pills spilling out of a container

Irregular Schedule

On nights when she worked late, Sylvie ordered pizza and ate it in front of the TV before falling into bed. Eating a late dinner or snacking before bed can activate the digestive system and keep you up, and fatty foods can contribute to acid reflux problems or heartburn, especially when you’re lying down in bed. Even drinking water or herbal tea just before bed can require you to wake up and visit the bathroom during the night, disturbing your sleep.

An irregular sleep schedule also contributes to insomnia, as your body becomes accustomed to sleeping and waking at regular intervals. Sylvie would tell herself that she would “catch up” by sleeping in on weekends, and while she did get some much-needed rest, inconsistent sleep patterns made it hard to fall asleep once she was back on her weekday schedule.

broken clock

Menopause

To make matters worse, Sylvie was suffering from the shifting balance of hormones caused by menopause. Occasionally, hot flashes — surges of adrenaline that raise body temperature – would make her so uncomfortable that she would wake up drenched in sweat, sometimes several times a night.

Menopause is another contributor to insomnia, which may help explain why insomnia affects middle-aged women more than any other age group.

confused woman trying to remember something

Breathing Problems

Sylvie had noticed that she woke up more when she was on her back – a position in which she had been told she sometimes snored in her sleep. Snoring is associated with sleep apnea, a condition where the normal breathing cycle is interrupted, waking you up several times every night.

You may not realize it’s happening, but you feel tired the next day. Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed with a simple test. Sufferers of sleep apnea report great improvement in sleep after treatment.

snoring woman sleeping on her back

What Can I Do to Beat Insomnia?

At Apnea Health, we can help.

After yet another sleepless night, Sylvie came to see us for a sleep test. It turned out that she stopped breathing 18 times per hour. One of our respirologists (sleep doctors) met with her to explain that she suffered from moderate sleep apnea and the treatment options available to her.

Sylvie did a trial of CPAP for 3 months where our team was able to eliminate her sleep apnea so that she no longer stopped breathing 18 times per hour. However, after 3 months she was still waking up at night or too early in the morning unrefreshed.  After consultations with our therapists and our sleep doctor, we determined that Sylvie also suffered from insomnia. She joined a 4-week cognitive behaviour workshop for insomnia.

Today, Sylvie wakes up refreshed and with more energy. And on weekend mornings, when she used to sleep late, she now spends time exercising or outdoors with her family.

If you are one of the 40% of Canadians suffering from insomnia, contact one of our sleep specialists today to set up a sleep test.

Apnée Santé Team

  1. Chaput JP, Yau ,J, Rau DP and Morin CM, Prevalence of insomnia for Canadians aged 6 to 79, Statistics Canada, December 19, 2018.
  2. Daley M, Morin CM, LeBlanc M, Grégoire JP, Savard J. The economic burden of insomnia: Direct and indirect costs for individuals with insomnia syndrome, insomnia symptoms, and good sleepers. Sleep. 2009;32(1):55-64.
/by

Can my sleep apnea be cured? Or improved?

It’s often after years of snoring and lost sleep that patients decide to discuss their symptoms with their doctor and proceed with a polysomnography (home sleep test) to determine if they have sleep apnea.

After doing the test, the results come in and it is confirmed…..sleep apnea. Almost immediately, one of the first questions most commonly asked is: Can my sleep apnea be cured?

The causes of sleep apnea

  1. The shape of your face. The cranial-facial physiognomy of your face can have implications with regards to a sleep apnea diagnosis. Essentially, the way your face is constructed can constitute one of the main reasons that you suffer from sleep apnea. For example, a large tongue, a long palate, prominent tonsils, a chin that is recessed or a small respiratory airway in the neck area can significantly reduce airflow once the muscles are relaxed during sleep.
  2. Extra weight. Once asleep, muscles relax in the body. Around the neck area, the relaxing of muscles leads to a reduction in the passage of air. The more weight in the neck area, the more likely the respiratory airways will close.
  3. Using sedatives, drugs or alcohol. Many people notice that after a night of drinking, after taking medication or a drug that relaxes muscles, that snoring tends to set in. In effect, these substances lead to a relaxing of muscles that favorise either a partial or full obstruction of the airways.

So, can I say that sleep apnea is curable? The answer: sleep apnea doesn’t cure itself, but there are ways to positively affect sleep apnea, depending on the reason(s) that you have sleep apnea in the first place.

Woman sleeping with mouth open

Surgery

Unless you have been evaluated by an oto-rhino-laryngologiste (ENT), we don’t know your internal physiognomy (if you are made small or not). There are some surgeries that can permit the creation of space in your upper airways that can be recommended, as necessary, by an ENT. However, in most cases, the use of a CPAP machine can create this space without needing invasive or painful surgery.

In more specific weight loss cases, documented improvement in the degree of severity of sleep apnea have been noted for some patients who have had bariatric surgery.  However according to the medical director of Apnée Santé and professor at University of Montreal, Dr Claude Poirier :

Sleep apnea doesn’t disappear, it is a chronic condition.  Rarely, certain surgical procedures can diminish sleep apnea, but they are not commonly performed and are associated with potential complications.  We can actually control sleep apnea occurrences or make them disappear with a prescription of positive pressure delivered via CPAP. This treatment is recognized as being effective.

surgical tools

Weight loss, health management

Weight loss can have a positive effect on sleep apnea, as well as your general health. A crazy cycle happens when you are exhausted from lack of sleep. You simply don’t have the energy or will to do things, like exercise, or commit to a healthy regime. CPAP therapy can play a significant role here. By attaining a better quality of sleep the body can recuperate both physically and mentally. This will give you the energy and mental capacity to embrace a healthy lifestyle and keep yourself in shape. If weight loss is done in tandem with exercise, you will increase muscle tone and achieve a better quality of sleep, thus completing the cycle and positively affecting your sleep apnea.

Another aspect to note is the positive effect that quality sleep has on hormone management, which is related to satiation, which can significantly diminish the urge to snack.

Woman stretching to get ready to exercise

Lifestyle management

Also, in some cases where patients are diagnosed with borderline levels of sleep apnea (that are not affected by their physiognomy), lifestyle management in terms of weight loss and gaining muscle tone can all but eliminate the sleep apnea (occasionally with the help of positional therapy). This occurs by relieving constriction in the throat, if weight is consistently controlled.

weight loss

Reducing alcohol and drug consumption

Reducing intake of alcohol and drugs can reduce the severity of your sleep apnea. For medications, it is difficult to reduce consumption because medication has been prescribed by your doctor for specific purposes and they are the only ones who can determine if you can reduce dosages or stop taking them.

The bottom line? While there is no definitive cure for the majority of sleep apnea sufferers, regardless of the cause, you can certainly take measures, in addition to CPAP therapy, to reduce your sleep apnea. It is in your best interests to give yourself the a chance to achieve better sleep, healthy control of your sleep apnea, and a better quality of life.

how alcohol affects your sleep 1

/by

Could memory loss be caused by sleep apnea?

Many people think memory issues are part of aging.

But is your snoring and forgetfulness caused by age – or sleep apnea? If you feel tired and/or sleepy all the time, or if you’ve been told you snore or stop breathing during your sleep, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be the cause.

But there’s good news: Forgetfulness caused by sleep apnea can be reversed!

How does sleep apnea cause snoring?

Snoring is the sound that is made when you try to breathe in while your airway is obstructed. Some people with sleep apnea may make a choking or gasping sound, while others experience silent breathing pauses as they try to inhale. The common factor is that oxygen isn’t getting through to the brain.

Here’s what happens:

  • The airway becomes blocked (obstructed) during sleep, which causes a pause in breathing.
  • When we stop breathing our oxygen levels drop, which triggers the brain to tell us to wake up and breathe.
  • However, we don’t wake up completely (these sleep interruptions are called “micro-arousals”).
  • It’s these micro-arousals that disrupt our sleep architecture and cause us to wake up in the morning feeling as if we haven’t slept a wink.

Diagram of the effects of sleep apnea

The surprising connection between sleep apnea and memory loss

According to a study published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in 2017, people with severe, untreated sleep apnea had significant damage in multiple areas of the brain. In an analysis of 42 studies comparing 2294 adults with untreated OSA and 1364 adults who were healthy,¹ the authors found people with sleep apnea experienced problems with:

  • Immediate recall (“What did my doctor just tell me?”)
  • Delayed recall (“Who phoned this morning?”)
  • Learning (“I just can’t get the hang of it!”)
  • Recognition (“Right! I remember him – we met before!”)

confused woman trying to remember something

Are there other causes of reversible memory loss?

According to the Mayo Clinic, other possible causes of reversible memory loss include:

  • Medications. Certain medications or a combination of medications can cause forgetfulness or confusion.
  • Minor head trauma or injury. A head injury from a fall or accident — even if you don’t lose consciousness — can cause memory problems.
  • Emotional disorders. Stress, anxiety or depression can cause forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty concentrating and other problems that disrupt daily activities.
  • Alcoholism. Chronic alcoholism can seriously impair mental abilities. Alcohol can also cause memory loss by interacting with medications.
  • Vitamin B-12 deficiency. Vitamin B-12 helps maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells. A vitamin B-12 deficiency — common in older adults — can cause memory problems.
  • Hypothyroidism. An underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) can result in forgetfulness and other thinking problems.
  • Brain diseases. A tumor or infection in the brain can cause memory problems or other dementia-like symptoms.

medication

Can CPAP treatment reverse brain damage?

Yes! But you need to stick with the program. In the 2017 study from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine,² only limited improvements were seen after three months of treatment with CPAP. However, after just one year, CPAP therapy led to an almost complete reversal of white matter (brain) abnormalities. According to the Academy, “Treatment also produced significant improvements in nearly all cognitive tests, mood, alertness and quality of life.” All of that without medication – and with the added benefit of getting a restful night’s sleep!

Close up of CT scan

If I have sleep apnea, are there other benefits of CPAP treatment?

The benefits of CPAP treatment go far beyond reversing memory loss. According to Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler², President of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2017), “Obstructive sleep apnea is a destructive disease that can ruin your health and increase your risk of death,” creating health hazards that include high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Through treatment with CPAP, all of these hazards can be reduced. Now, that’s information worth remembering!

Doctor using a blood pressure device on a patient

Overcome memory problems caused by sleep apnea

The first step is to get tested for sleep apnea.

If you have OSA symptoms and feel that your sleep is not restful, it’s important to talk to your doctor about it. Apnée Santé offers simple, fast and effective home testing. You can also contact us for a free evaluation to see if sleep testing is right for you. Here’s a checklist to review with your doctor for signs of sleep apnea.

  • Loud snoring
  • Occasionally waking up during the night feeling that you’re choking or gasping
  • Restless sleep
  • Having a sore or dry throat in the morning
  • Having a headache in the morning
  • Sleepiness, low energy or fatigue during the day
  • Feeling sleepy behind the wheel
  • Weight gain
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Forgetfulness, mood changes, and a decreased interest in sex

a checklist

References

  1. Wallace A, Bucks RS. SLEEP 2013;36(2):203-220.
  2. Accessed at https://aasm.org/brain-damage-caused-by-severe-sleep-apnea-is-reversible/ on Aug. 7, 2019.
/by