Losing Weight Part Three
Posted on | November 15, 2009 | No Comments
The last piece of the puzzle obviously (and the most dreaded) is exercise; and really if you want to make an impact to your weight and your sleep apnea then it’s completely essential.
The first and most important way to lose weight through exercise is to get regular CV and aerobic exercise. That means anything that lasts long enough that it uses up the body’s short term stores of ATP and glycogen and so begins burning fat. Great examples of cardiovascular exercise include jogging, swimming, cycling, shadow boxing, swimming, rowing and dancing. If you do any of these for at least thirty minutes three times a week then you should start to notice a marked difference.
As well as CV though you should also be doing resistance work – and this is something that many people trying to lose weight overlook. Contrary to popular belief fat can’t be converted into muscle but you will be able to burn it by working out for extended periods of time, and more to the point once you begin building muscle your body will burn fat simply to maintain it – meaning you’re losing weight while you’re sleeping (which hopefully you’ll be able to do much easier).
Losing Weight Part Two
Posted on | November 14, 2009 | No Comments
This means you should be eating smaller amounts of fats and simple carbs such as sugar and cakes. At the same time you should be eating more fruits, proteins and fibres. This needn’t necessarily involve a large change to your lifestyle and there are many small changes you can make to your diet that are hardly noticeable but will still make a significant impact on your weight.
For example you can cut sugar out of tea or coffee, switch to semi skimmed or low-fat milk, stop spreading butter on your bread, stop cooking with oil, drink less alcohol and when you do make it spirits or wine instead of beer or ale and switch soft drinks for fruit drinks and water. Similarly you should try to replace your unhealthy snacks such as crisps or cakes with something more nutritious (or at least less unhealthy) such as cereal bars, grapes, yogurts or cereals. None of things will be particularly noticeable at the time but combined they will actually represent quite a large cut in calories and fat. Even better by taking the sweet and the oily out of your daily diet you will begin to change your own sweet tooth. You may not think it but eventually you will stop craving Mars bars and start looking forward to fruit.
Losing Weight Part One
Posted on | November 13, 2009 | No Comments
Losing weight is one of the surest ways to help cure sleep apnea while obesity (patients with a BMI of 30 or over) is one of the largest predictors of the condition. This should be just one thing on a long list of reasons to lose weight, but how do you go about it?
First of all it’s important to consider that ‘fad’ diets often don’t work. They trigger a ‘famine’ mode in the body, slowing the metabolism and encouraging food to be stored as fat in case no more comes along. At the same time they deprive the body of important nutrients and it’s important to remember that everything we eat we eat for a reason. Apart from anything else fad diets are simply impractical, hard to stick to and fairly anti-social.
So how do you go about losing weight? Well the secret is to include everything in your diet that you normally would (even fat plays important roles) but to consume it in smaller quantities. One quick trick is simply to never completely clear a plate and refuse to go for seconds. While you shouldn’t be cutting any food group out of your diet entirely however it is important to be eating them in the right quantities and ratios.
Symptoms of Sleep Deprivation Part Two
Posted on | November 12, 2009 | No Comments
Linked strongly to lack of energy is a potential lack of libido and if you aren’t getting enough sleep you might find that you have difficulty performing in the bedroom too (and this can affect both genders). Similarly you may find lack of interest generally and potentially a lack of appetite. This can result in individuals ‘staring’ into space (which also comes with lack of concentration) and appearing restless.
Another notable effect of lack of sleep is that your memory can be negatively affected. This is due partly to the fact that during sleep our brain lays down and enforces a lot of the memories we’ve formed during the day (which is one explanation for dreams). Without it you might find yourself forgetful and confused.
In fact dreams are so important seemingly that in extreme cases of sleep deprivation they can start finding their way into our waking life resulting in ‘waking dreams’ and ‘hallucinations’. This can be at once unpleasant, frightening and distracting.
General judgement and coordination can also be negatively effected which can make things such as driving dangerous and can lead to other problems in your personal life resulting from bad decisions. Mood too can be altered and many insomniacs report feelings of depression. For all these reasons it’s incredibly important that you get a healthy night’s sleep each night and that you look into the source of any problems.
Symptoms of Sleep Deprivation Part One
Posted on | November 11, 2009 | No Comments
Sleep is a highly important function for our bodies and our minds. Though we don’t fully understand it’s role, ‘deprivation’ studies, and cases of ‘fatal familial insomnia’ suggest that without it we would be entirely unable to function. Yet many people still function on minimal sleep and experience a series of unpleasant effects as a result. If your sleep is being interrupted by a condition such as sleep apnea you may not even be aware – but if you spot the following symptoms you will know you’re not getting enough good quality sleep and that you need to look into the problem.
The first symptom of lack of sleep is obviously tiredness. This may be hard to spot at first but compare your current energy levels to those several years ago and see if they stack up favourably. If not, could they be caused by other factors such as stress? Tiredness caused by sleeping may often find you struggling to keep your eyes open during the day which is a sure sign that you’re not getting enough shut-eye during the night. Similarly you may notice that your legs feel achy or uncomfortable and that you struggle getting out of bed in the mornings.
What’s Causing Your Disturbed Sleep? Part Three
Posted on | November 10, 2009 | No Comments
Obstructive sleep apnea – Obstructive sleep apnea is a failure to breath during the night due to blockages in the airways such as the trachea or nasal passage. This is often as a result of obesity and losing weight is a simple solution. In cases where the problem persists, strengthening neck muscles or altering your sleeping position may help. If these fail you should seek medical advice and may need a continuous positive air pressure device to keep your trachea open by blowing pressurised air down it.
Stress – Stress is one of the most common causes of sleeping difficulties and if your mind is racing it can be hard to switch off. Ways to help your brain to do so include writing down your thoughts and problems before you sleep. Reading in bed or keeping the room separate for sleeping.
Lack of melatonin – If the body doesn’t produce enough melatonin the brain won’t know it’s tired. This can be altered by using sleeping tablets or other methods.
Fatal Familial Insomnia – Fortunately this condition is highly rare, but in some cases an individual can develop a fatal gene that causes the sudden onset of extreme insomnia. In these cases the individual will be entirely unable to sleep eventually resulting in death.
What’s Causing Your Disturbed Sleep? Part Two
Posted on | November 9, 2009 | No Comments
Snoring – Your snoring may be driving your partner up the wall but believe it or not it could be preventing you from having a good night’s sleep too and it’s even possible to wake yourself by snoring. Look into getting a mask or peg designed to lessen your noise.
Light – Light coming in through windows or doors or even radiating from electrical appliances such as phones or televisions on standby can affect the quality of your sleep. Make sure you cover up all light sources before you go to sleep and turn things off at the mains – it’s good for your electricity bill and the environment too.
Inactivity – If you’re inactive during the day then you won’t be as tired during the night. To prevent this happening to you then make sure you get plenty of fresh air and exercise during the day.
Noise – If the area you sleep in is noisy it can prevent you from sleeping deeply and interrupt your sleep cycles – it’s an evolutionary system that prevents us from being attacked by predators while we sleep. Consider investing in ear plugs.
Central sleep apnea – Central sleep apnea is a failure of the body to communicate to the body the need to breath which can leave you holding your breath in the night. It will require medication prescribed by the doctor to treat and is exacerbated by depressants such as alcohol.
What’s Causing Your Disturbed Sleep? Part One
Posted on | November 8, 2009 | No Comments
Lack of sleep can seriously impact our lives, leaving us with no energy to enjoy our daily activities. Worse it can cause loss of libido and sexual performance, memory difficulties, headaches, hallucinations, judgement, coordination and concentration – the latter three potentially causing accidents.
If you’re experiencing difficulties sleeping then it could be one of several causes and it’s important that you get to the route of the problem so that you can treat it and return your energy levels to normal. Bellow are a list of possible causes, their symptoms and basic treatments.
Chronic pain – Chronic pain is unpleasant during the best of times but during the night it can be enough to prevent us from getting a good night’s sleep and keep us tossing and turning or sleeping lightly. Obvious ways to deal with this problem are those associated with general pain management such as taking pain killers, though sleeping aids may also help.
Night terrors – Night terrors are an unusual phenomenon that are akin to ‘waking nightmares’. In these the sufferer normally wakes up scared and usually screaming with an urgent desire to ‘escape’. They are normally impossible to rouse at this stage and can be caused by poor diet or lack of sleep. Usually they occur in infants.
Surgical Procedures for Sleep Apnea
Posted on | November 7, 2009 | No Comments
When patients fail to respond to non-surgical measures, more invasive techniques will be required. Here surgical methods can be used to anatomically alter the airways which can remove various obstructions in the nasal passage, throat, tongue and skull. This procedure needs to be ‘individualised’ to suit the particular needs of the patient but will most often involve a correction of the nasal passage (often by altering the septum – which Jennifer Anniston famously had done) and a correction to the orpharynx passage. Tonsillectomy and uvulopalatopharyngoplasty are also available for pharyngeal obstruction, as is advancement of the base of the tongue to prevent it blocking the throat via an advancement of the genial tubercle in the mandible (like a permanent OAT). Similarly the facial skeleton can be advanced by operating on the upper and lower jaws – akin to the operations used for overbites.
In the most extreme cases a tracheostomy will be performed providing the patient with a permanent direct passage to the airway which they can breath through directly.
Surgical procedures for sleep apnea, though often painful, have a high success rate (around 95% according to some reports) and are fairly safe. However complications can arise from the use of sedatives which can lead to serious irregularities in breathing or heart rate for those who already have sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea Treatments
Posted on | November 6, 2009 | No Comments
If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea and home remedies or lifestyle changes prove ineffective, then your doctor may prescribe one of several treatments. Of the many sleep apnea treatments available, the most commonly used for constructive sleep apnea and probably the most affective is continuous positive airway pressure – whereby a machine pumps pressurised air down your throat – not to force the act of breathing but rather to force open the airways so that you can breath normally. These are highly effective but also fairly impractical due to size. In cases of central sleep apnea they will not prove effective.
Another method is Oral Appliance Therapy or OAT. This can be provided by dentists and consists of a mouthpiece that pushes the lower jaw open in order to open up the airways. This can be effective in mild causes of constructive sleep apnea but is again not effective against central apnea. For even more mild cases of constructive apnea special pillows can be used that force the user into a position more conducive for breathing.
In other instances medications such as acetazolamide may be prescribed in order to lower blood pH and thereby encourage respiration. This can be useful against central sleep apnea but not in all cases. Research is being conducted into medications targeting the brain stem.