According to a multi-studies review article from a December 2016 issue of Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, “Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent disease and public health issue, affecting approximately 34% of middle-aged men and 17% of middle-aged women in the United States.” That’s almost 25% of the overall population!
Why is OSA such a health issue? Snoring is pretty normal, isn’t it?
Not necessarily.
What happens during snoring episodes can actually have some surprisingly detrimental effects on one’s health. Let’s look at how.
Our bodies are actually very busy while we are asleep. During periods of the deepest sleep (REM sleep), our bodies are healing, detoxing, growing and fighting off germs or illness, and more.
A great deal of oxygen is necessary for these processes. So, for a person who snores or has OSA, the levels of oxygen saturation in the blood measurably drop. Not only does the person get roused from deep sleep to a lighter level of sleep, but their body is then rather handicapped in its restorative functions by decreased oxygen levels.
If you frequently awaken feeling just as tired as you were when you went to bed, though you seem to have slept the entire night, you should consider investigating the possibility that you might have obstructive sleep apnea. Even if you don’t snore.
Not everyone with a sleep breathing disorder snores. In fact, some people simply breathe very shallowly or even stop breathing for segments of time ranging from a few to as many as 30 seconds. This is called hypopnea, and is one of the aspects on the spectrum of sleep breathing disorders that also robs the body of needed oxygen.
And nearly 1 in 4 Americans are affected by this! The only condition more prevalent is obesity. (BMI, or body mass index, is a factor in such breathing disorders, but that is a topic for another time.) That means there are a whole lot of people walking around chronically sleep-deprived!
According Dr. Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org, diet is 80% of our health, but even a perfect diet can’t completely overcome a lack of quality sleep. We NEED good, restorative sleep just as much as we need good, healthy food!
Ok. So, you’ve decided to look deeper into your sleep issue, and have been diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Naturally, your doctor wants to prescribe drugs, and/or CPAP, because, after all, they work well for many people, right? And, let’s face it, there aren’t a lot of alternatives. (Though there are some!)
In case you’re not quite familiar with it: CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. It is a non-invasive (no part of the device enters your body) form of ventilation that usually maximizes the oxygen content of the air in your bedroom. It delivers plenty of oxygen to you while you sleep through a nose-and-mouth-covering mask and hose. While the machine is pretty quiet, it does not really appeal to a lot of people.
How can you know what treatment is going to be best for you?
Some of the most promising alternatives to CPAP are Mandibular Advancement Devices (MADs), or appliances that are worn in the mouth much like the TMJ guards which position your jaw for optimal airflow.
No masks. No hoses. No whirring machines. Just a simple mouthpiece such as these above.
Sound too good to be true?
It’s not. With a one-night test and evaluation of your normal jaw positioning while you sleep you can learn if you are a good candidate for an MAD.
In the research review article mentioned at the beginning (source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27568892 ), nine studies were reviewed which utilized single overnight tests to predict a patient’s likely success with an MAD with excellent accuracy.
“... in all studies elimination of airway obstruction events during sleep by Remote Controlled Mandibular Positioning titration predicted Oral Appliance therapy success by the determination of the most effective target protrusive position (ETPP). A statistically significant association is found between mean Apnea-Hypopnea Index predicted outcome with RCMP and treatment outcome with OA on polysomnographic or portable sleep monitoring evaluation.”
If you’re one of the nearly 25% of Americans affected by sleep apnea, you don’t have to walk around suffering the ill effects of chronic mild sleep deprivation - half sick, tired and poorly functioning. And you don’t have to be tied to a machine every night! With a simple, easy and cost-effective test at home, you can be on the road to optimal health again - with a simple (and - dare we say it? - much sexier) mandibular advancement device!
