For children with obstructive sleep apnea, standard care often includes a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. But researchers at Saint Louis University say further research is needed to determine if surgery is the best option for these patients.
A recently published study that is the first to assess the effectiveness of treating sleep disorders in adults with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) shows treatment may result in the objective resolution of the sleep disorder without improvements in daytime sleepiness or neuropsychological function.
Results show that in brain-injured subjects with obstructive sleep apnea, three months of treatment with CPAP therapy dramatically reduced the severity of OSA from 31.4 to 3.8 apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep; however, there was no demonstrable improvement in measures of daytime sleepiness.
Awake In America is joining forces with hundreds of organizations and the National Sleep Foundation to mark National Sleep Awareness Week 2009, which runs from March 2 through March 8.
Awake In America will be focusing additional energies this week to help focus the need for health insurance coverage sleep disorders, increase awareness about the importance of sufficient sleep, the dangers of undiagnosed and untreated sleep disorders, and the consequences of sleep deprivation on a personal and societal level. These extra efforts will be done through email, one-on-one calls, as well as through printed materials the organization has mailed in the weeks leading up to National Sleep Awareness Week 2009.
A study published in the July 1, 2008, issue of the journal Sleep provides visual evidence of the severe structural damage that occurs in numerous regions of the brain in people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
Results show that obstructive sleep apnea patients have extensive alterations in “white matter,” nerve tissue in the brain containing fibers that are insulated with myelin — a white, fatty sheath. These structural changes appear both in brain regions that have functional importance for characteristics such as mood, memory, and cardiovascular regulation; and in fiber pathways interconnecting these regions.
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As of May 2, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. (-0500) (ET), the U.S. population
was 306,340,710. Sleep researchers estimate approximately seven percent
of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Using that
estimate, there are potentially 21,443,850 apneics in the U.S.
~~ Apnea around the world ~~
As of May 2, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. (-0500) (ET), the world population
was 6,777,286,604. Sleep researchers estimate approximately seven percent
of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Using that
estimate, there are potentially 474,410,062 apneics in the world.
