Sleep Apnea: A Deadly But Underestimated Sleep Disorder

Have you been following the World Series this year?

Cleveland’s Mike Napoli never had a good night’s sleep and could not recall the last time he dreamed. Doctors broke his jaw to reposition it, so he could breathe.

This is just one example of what causes sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea occurs when people’s ways to get air are cut off while they sleep and it affects more people than you may imagine.

It has been thought to be a hereditary sleeping issue, meaning that it can be passed down from person to person. However it can also be caused by lifestyle choices, obesity and general unhealthiness.

It causes them to suffer oxygen deprivation, snore, and sleep in fits and starts. Most people just think of the overweight, barrel-chested middle-aged man when they think of sleep apnea. Yet, airways may be cut off for many reasons.

A big soft palate or a long uvula (that flap in everyone’s throat) may shut off the airway. Nostrils may be too narrow where air is supposed to enter the body.

Blame a deviated septum for that.

In most cases, people can either breathe through their nose or throat, so they are able to compensate. It means they continue with breathing struggles.

The issue is that because people can compensate they assume there is no problem. They could die because of this wrong assumption.

Playing Russian Roulette

Sleep apnea is like Russian roulette.

Add in a stuffy nose, sore throat, and the person with excess skin sagging into their throat has no way to breathe.

They may normally snore loudly, like a chainsaw, whose loud rhythm is normally interrupted by a cough, or a sniffle for air.

A head cold means all of their ways to get air are cut off and they die. Their heart cannot get sufficient oxygen, causing a heart attack.

There are many causes of apnea and many ways to solve the problem. Some are surgical, and some involve a machine to force air into the body, through a CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure) machine.

6 Natural Methods to Alleviate This Disorder

There are many natural methods to help sleep apnea, but as with most things, some are better than others.

Now I want to make it clear here, that although these methods are very good at helping, you should visit your doctor before starting any method and also to get a fuller overview about how serious your sleep apnea really is.

Lose Weight

It is no coincidence that a great many sleep apnea sufferers also happen to be overweight. It is also no coincidence that many of those who lose weight discover that their symptoms disappear over time.

One study found that 20% of those involved in the study found an almost immediate cure with an intensive weight loss routine.

Change The Position You Sleep

This is a nice simple one that you might find has an immediate effect.

Lying on your back causes all of your throat muscles and tongue to move towards the back of your throat, thereby closing up your airways.

By giving side sleeping a go, you could reduce potential apnea episodes and help you to sleep more deeply whilst getting enough oxygen.

Increase Your Vitamins Intake

More specifically vitamin D and vitamin C.

Research has found a correlation between sleep apnea and Vitamin D deficiency. Whilst not a cure in of itself, it is a simple fix and one that can have quantitative benefits.

The vitamin C connection is more to do with fixing some of the damage that apnea might cause through helping to repair damaged cells.

Magnesium

This particular mineral is vital with muscle function so it is worthwhile to ensure that you get enough in your diet. If your throat muscles are working optimally, they are in a better position to stay strong.

Consider Herbal Remedies

Certain herbs such as lavender,can help to reduce sleep apnea symptoms. AGain this is not to be taken as a cure, but rather to help to reduce any adverse effects.

Serotonin Precursor 5-HTP

A serotonin precursor named 5-HTP, could be used for sleep apnea sufferers. This is because decreased serotonin levels have been shown to be a direct cause, therefore increasing this hormone might just do wonders.

So there you have it.

A very underestimated sleeping disorder that may not sound like a dangerous sleep issue, but it certainly is and one that anyone might think they have it should immediately visit a doctor.

Sleep Apnea: A Deadly But Underestimated Sleep Disorder

The part of housing in the well being of residents ought to not be underestimated

Housing has fallen into a rather lazy consensus about wellness, blaming them for our problems with engaging. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Photos

Final Thursday was the UK’s initial Time to Talk day: 24 hours in which we had been all encouraged to have conversations about mental health.

Some of people conversations would also have been about housing. The government is more and more recognising the relevance of housing in delivering very good overall health and social care and it is great that the government is putting £3.8bn into trying to make integration amongst wellness and housing work, despite the fact that how a lot of that income will uncover its way to housing is yet to be witnessed.

But for all the advances, the frontlines of housing and wellness nevertheless appear worlds apart. As housing associations, we have struggled to get traction in the planet of health, and well being and housing integration usually feels a prolonged way out of attain.

The reality is, we have acquired to up our game. Housing has fallen into a rather lazy consensus about overall health, blaming them for our troubles with engaging. We have been fixated by the commissioning agenda. We have been obsessed with chasing the cash and as well articles to be fed crumbs on the edge. We child ourselves that we have the answers even when we struggle to articulate what it is that we truly do or how we measure it and how we know if it truly is any good.

We seem programmed to constantly ask what we can get from well being, rather than be safe in proposing what we can give. We in no way appear to have a conversation that promotes our accomplishment as asset managers, with capital and access to finance that health demands and doesn’t have.

Right here are three items we are performing wrong:

* We demonstrate no real understanding of how overall health operates, how it’s financed, what matters to the NHS and why. We never seem to the NHS as potential buyers of our capabilities and experience.

* We speak to the incorrect individuals and assume them to have all the answers

* We invest far too much time making an attempt to influence the overall health and wellbeing boards, when that is not in which true discussions about innovation are happening

What need to we do as an alternative?

* We need to look much more in direction of the companies of NHS companies, than to the commissioners. We require to realize that the NHS Trusts are the significant suppliers of healthcare in this country, and function with them to reform the system. They are our potential clients and we need to have to carry convincing company instances to them.

* We need to work alongside other non-revenue organisations to place forward the ideas that will drive greater integration amongst overall health and housing

We have launched our improvement programme for housing associations serious about coming into new healthcare markets with NHS Mental Overall health Trusts. Seventeen housing associations have signed up to constructing their skills, competences and capability, ending with new collaborations with the NHS.

To accompany this development programme, we will publish a series of blogs that will debunk a handful of myths about wellness with a view to constructing a new narrative, offer you and engagement for housing. Along the way we may tread on a few toes, ruffle a number of feathers, and upset some of the comfy housing sensibilities. But by the end, we’ll be greater placed to complete in the healthcare marketplace.

Andrew van Doorn is deputy chief executive of social enterprise and thinktank HACT. This is an edited version of a weblog that originally appeared on the HACT website.

This articles is brought to you by Guardian Specialist. Interested in housing? Join the housing network for a lot more information, analysis and comment direct to you.

The part of housing in the well being of residents ought to not be underestimated