Stop Treatment, Condition Returns

Makes commonsense. Does it NOT?

Hey folks,

Many of you know that I suffer from a few different Medical Conditions. Some I can help, some a I can't One of my many Sleep Disorders is OSA or Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This is where your breathing is cut off during the night, WHILE you are Sleeping. This means, you actually STOP Breathing. This in turn wakes you up. Occurring more than a few times a night, most of which you will not even know it. After a while though, you will find yourselves tired. I'm not talking drowsy after a hard day's work or the exercising thing. I'm talking falling asleep at a Red Light. Drowsy WHILE driving. Worn out and feeling beat up. I have also learned that this can cause High Blood Pressure, debilitating Head Aches, and Heart Burn so bad it makes you sweat. I also learned that Heart Disease risk heightens in Patients with OSA.

Now one of the Treatments for this is a CPAP Therapy.

CPAP is a common treatment for OSA patients, whose breathing is interrupted many times during sleep due to the repeated blockage of the upper airway. CPAP keeps the airway open by pumping a continuous stream of air through a mask or nose piece the patient wears while sleeping.

Now this was my reaction the first time I heard this.

So he wants me to go in and do a sleep study. That is where you spend the night and they monitor you while you sleep. Then I would get fitted for a machine that will make me sound like Darth Vader while I sleep. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go through all this. But you know me. It got me curious.

Now to this day, I still haven't done it. But those of you who HAVE. Please keep this in mind. Like with most Medical Conditions, if you STOP treating it, it returns. Or the symptoms return. Makes commonsense. Does it NOT?

According to Health Day - Sleep Apnea Makes Quick Return When Treatment Stops

People who use a continuous positive airway pressure machine need to use them consistently

FRIDAY, Aug. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and sleepiness rapidly return when patients stop using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, a new study finds.

CPAP is a common treatment for OSA patients, whose breathing is interrupted many times during sleep due to the repeated blockage of the upper airway. CPAP keeps the airway open by pumping a continuous stream of air through a mask or nose piece the patient wears while sleeping.

This Swiss study included patients on CPAP therapy who were randomly selected to either continue or discontinue CPAP for two weeks. Those who stopped CPAP experienced a return of OSA and sleepiness within a few days. Within 14 days, they had significant increases in heart rate and blood pressure, and a deterioration in vascular function.

The results suggest that even a short break in CPAP therapy has a negative effect on the cardiovascular system, the researchers said.

They also noted their findings show that OSA patients need to continuously use CPAP, including taking their machines with them on holidays.

The study appears online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

So if you are using a CPAP, keep doing so. But then again, no matter what treatment and condition you are dealing with. FOLLOW your Doctor's advice. Follow the program. I remember talking with Dr. Stuart Shipe. We were talking about changing my Diet and Detoxing my Body. He told me a story of a few of his Patients that went through the system, did GREAT, then stopped, going back to their old habits and lifestyles. What happens? Yup. They went right back to their negative Health conditions as well. So the bottom line here is simple. Keep doing what you are doing if it is working for you. Go FORWORD, not backwards.
Peter

Sources:
Health Day - Sleep Apnea Makes Quick Return When Treatment Stops
OPNTalk - Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Sincere Apologies For Absence

Attempting to get back to a normal schedule soon.

Hey folks,

Happy Hump Day! Yes. I was not here Tuesday. My sincere apologies for that. There are just some things going on that I must take care of. I have told you all this many times in the past. I'm here, because I want to be here. I do not make Dime one on the OPNTalk Blog. I do not receive a paycheck, make a profit, further an agenda for any kind of personal gain whatsoever. Simply put, I write and share, because I LOVE to write and share.

As many of you know, I am also dealing with several different Medical issues. From the newest diagnoses of COPD, and Emphysema, Sleep Apnea, and the close watching of a swollen Lymph Node, I seem to be visiting more Doctors and Specialists than I would EVER care to in a lifetime. Couple that with the fact I have other obligations and DO have to pay the bills, I have very little time.

Since I started this Blog, I have sacrificed MANY things. I take time away from Family, friends, and outside obligations. I will sit in the OPNTalk Office for HOURS on end scanning news outlets, formulating, and publishing the Daily articles and Big Sunday Edition. Again, I have no idea how many hits I get a day, nor does it really matter all that much to me. I write because that is my Passion. I research, study, and learn, because THAT is my passion. I converse with people from all around the world, both in person, and online. We learn from each other.

I DO love and appreciate each and every one of you out there. From the true OPNers, to the casual visitors. From the true "Fans" to the reposters. Everyone of you are important to me and this is why I DO feel bad when time just doesn't allow for me to be here.

I've been Online now for over 12 years. I have enjoyed every one of them. From the differing Posting Boards, Discussion Groups, and News Outlets, and now the OPNTalk Blog itself, I find myself longing for many more years to come. I assure you, I do the best with the time I have.

So please forgive me for the occasional absence. I will continue to do my best each and every time I sign on. I will not just throw something out there with out being able to be confident that I get my message across and have the time needed to bring my opinion to you in the standard of excellence you have come to know and aspect.

Just simply THANK YOU for YOUR time and concern. Your Emails and comments. Your kind words and Prayers. I will do my best to never let you down. Thank you.
Peter

Bedwetting, Being Overweight linked to sleep apnea

Health and Science for 070509

Hey folks,

You know, it's kind of like when you buy a new car. All of a sudden you see them EVERYWHERE. I will admit that I had no idea about Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), until I was diagnosed with it. Now, I find that it is FAR more common than I knew, and that it is far more dangerous than I ever thought.

I keep learning more and more about it and I found this interesting. According to Health.am - Bedwetting, being overweight linked to sleep apnea

Children who are overweight and wet the bed at night may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), researchers report.

Both being overweight and wetting the bed are associated with the nighttime breathing disorder, they found. However, overweight and bedwetting are not associated with each other.

OK I have to admit something else. The whole overweight thing REALLY bothers me. I really have no idea why. But it does. Now I weighed in at 224 my last weight check. But I would not consider myself as all that over weight due to the fact Muscle weighs more than fat and I have far more muscle than I do fat. Now yeah, I have gotten a little soft in the middle having stayed away from the gym for three years. But I'm back and working at it.

For those of you who watch Pro Wrestling, you know who I'm going to talk about. For those of you who do not, you will just have to trust me on this. Batista. Batista is 300 pounds, without an OUNCE of fat on him. Now by standard charts, he would be considered Obese. But he is not. So the whole, "OH, you have OSA, you better loose some weight," to me, well, is too generic. Anyway, back to the article.

In a “case-control” study, Dr. Joseph G. Barone, of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues performed overnight sleep studies in 149 children between the ages of 5 and 15 with OSA, and 139 matched control children.

They combined that data with information from medical records, including age, gender, height, weight, frequency of bedwetting, history of snoring, diabetes, nasal allergies, and/or enlarged tonsils.

According to Barone and colleagues, there was a significant association between both bedwetting and overweight and OSA.

Bedwetting raised the likelihood of OSA more than fivefold and being overweight raised the likelihood of OSA more than fourfold. However, their associations are independent of each other, the researchers note.

Barone’s team suggests that doctors consider OSA in overweight children who wet the bed, especially when they display other symptoms of OSA or fail to respond to standard bedwetting treatment programs.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, July 2009.

So what this is saying is that if your kid wets the bed, they are MORE likely to have OSA than ones that are overweight? WHY? I'm honestly asking here. What is the connection between wetting the bed and OSA? The weight thing, although I feel strongly can be overused, I can also understand. More weight makes is easier for your airways to be cut off. But bedwetting? That was a new one for me, and now something else I will have to look into.

But folks, I want you to take this seriously. This is a SERIOUS condition. In sever cases, Strokes, heart failure, death, can occur. So if you, or any of your loved ones show ANY of these signs, PLEASE get them checked out and get them the help they need.
Peter

Sources:
Health.am - Bedwetting, being overweight linked to sleep apnea

More Serious Sleep Disorders

Sleep Walking is relatively harmless, but what about more serious sleep disorders?

Hey folks,

Last week in the Health and Science Segment, I talked about Sleep Walking. I shared with you that I am a Sleep Walker. But the topic of Sleep Disorders brought up some interesting conversations here and elsewhere.

Anthony chimed in and left a link to the Sleeping Disorders Home Page. Here is what he said.

Anthony said...

"I appreciate you writing this article about sleep apnea. Many people do not realize how dangerous sleep apnea is, and in severe that your blood oxygen level can go down to as low as 40% (normally 97-100%). In addition, snoring is often a symptom of sleep apnea and anyone who snores should see their doctor and ask for a sleep test. There is more information on the Sleeping Disorders Home Page. I have added this page to Digg and StumbleUpon for you."

Here was my response to him.

Hey Anthony,

Welcome to the OPNTalk Blog. Glad to have you. Thank you for adding me.

Thank you very much for the link. I will be checking it out more in-depth when I return to the office a little bit later today.

Stop by again and often, you never know what you may see here. I'll most likely be doing an update on this including your link in the near future.

Thanks again.
Peter

Well, check it out I did. I love the website. It is filled with great and informative information. Take this for example. According to Medindia.com - Heart Disease Risk Heightens In Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Researchers have uncovered a link between obstructive sleep apnea (ie periodic interruptions in breathing throughout sleep) and a hike in the risk of several forms of heart and vascular disease.

What's more, the common sleep apnea thickens sufferers' blood vessels, the study published in the May 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology claimed.

Emory researchers have found enzyme NADPH oxidase as important for the effects obstructive sleep apnea has on blood vessels in the lung.

Standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea involves a mechanical application of air pressure. Anything that blunts sleep apnea's effects on blood vessel physiology could reduce its impact on disease risk, senior author C. Michael Hart, professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center said.

Cyclically depriving mice of oxygen - researchers call this "chronic intermittent hypoxia" -- in a way that simulates obstructive sleep apnea gives them pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension, which can be life threatening, is a condition in which the right side of the heart has trouble pumping blood because of resistance in the lung's blood vessels.

Chronic intermittent hypoxia forces the blood vessels in the lung to make more NADPH oxidase, Hart and his colleagues found. Mice that lack NADPH oxidase are immune to hypoxia's effects.

NADPH oxidase is a helpful enzyme because it is responsible for making superoxide, a reactive free radical that the immune system uses to kill bacteria. But superoxide also interferes with nitric oxide, a signal that allows blood vessels to relax.

Humans with mutations in genes for NADPH oxidase have recurrent bacterial infections because their ability to fight the bacteria is weakened. Therefore, according to Hart, inhibiting the NADPH oxidase enzyme in the entire body may be harmful, and he favors an indirect intervention.

"We think that strategies to lower NADPH oxidase expression induced by hypoxia may be useful in preventing hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension," says Hart.

Thank you again Anthony. I snore too. Maybe I should add that to the growing list of things my doctors should be checking out. I encourage you all to check out this site. You may find it as interesting as I did.
Peter