Exercises Help Sleep Apnea

UPDATE: 12 June - related article from Australian nursing journal 

 

Throat Exercises Can Relieve Sleep Apnea

By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

THE FACTS

For people suffering from sleep apnea, specialized breathing machines are the standard treatment.

The machines use a method called continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, which keeps the airway open and relieves potentially dangerous pauses in breathing during the night. But the machines are expensive, and some people complain that the mask and headgear cause uncomfortable side effects, like congestion.

One free and fairly simple alternative may be exercises that strengthen the throat. While they aren’t as established or as well studied as breathing machines, some research suggests they may reduce the severity of sleep apnea by building up muscles around the airway, making them less likely to collapse at night.

In a study published last year in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, scientists recruited a group of people with obstructive sleep apnea and split them into two groups. One was trained to do breathing exercises daily, while the other did 30 minutes of throat exercises, including swallowing and chewing motions, placing the tip of the tongue against the front of the palate and sliding it back, and pronouncing certain vowels quickly and continuously.

After three months, subjects who did the throat exercises snored less, slept better and reduced the severity of their condition by 39 percent. They also showed reductions in neck circumference, a known risk factor for apnea. The control group showed almost no improvement.

Other randomized studies have found similar effects. One even showed that playing instruments that strengthen the airways, like the didgeridoo, can ease sleep apnea.

THE BOTTOM LINE

For people with sleep apnea, throat exercises may be a cheap and useful therapy.

More about disturbed sleep ---

 

Pollution linked to sleep problems

Published: June 16, 2010 at 1:32 AM

BOSTON, June 16 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have linked air pollution and sleep-disordered breathing -- a known cause of heart disease.


Antonella Zanobetti, Dr. Susan Redline, Dr. Diane Gold of Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues used data from the Sleep Heart Health Study, which included more than 6,000 participants from 1995 to 1998, as well as federal air pollution monitoring data from Framingham, Mass.; Minneapolis; New York; Phoenix; Pittsburgh; Sacramento; and Tucson.


The researchers said sleep-disordered breathing affects as many as 17 percent of U.S. adults.


Over all seasons, the study found short-term elevations in temperature were linked with increased in Respiratory Disturbance Index, which was used to gauge the severity of sleep-disordered breathing.


"Particles may influence sleep through effects on the central nervous system, as well as the upper airways," Zanobetti said in a statement. "Poor sleep may disproportionately afflict poor urban populations. Our findings suggest that one mechanism for poor sleep and sleep health disparities may relate to environmental pollution levels."


The study appears online ahead of the print edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.   © 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How To Stop Snoring Quickly

Finding out how to stop snoring or prevent someone else from
doing so can be extremely beneficial, especially if one of
the two is keeping you from sleeping at night. Even though
you might know why you snore, figuring out how to go about
treating the problem can be more difficult.

Begin With Yourself

Determining how to stop yourself from snoring requires
taking a look at you and your habits. For example,
overweight individuals tend to snore more often than people
with an average body weight. Sleep apnea, a medical
condition that should be discussed with a doctor, often
appears in individuals with high blood pressure and also
causes snoring.

One thing you can do to try to prevent snoring is sleeping
in a different position. You can also experiment with different
pillows to see if a certain design or firmness stops you
from snoring. If your snoring is related to nasal
congestion, try to sleep with your head elevated. Other
sleeping positions, like sleeping on your stomach, reduce
your chances of snoring. Even though they are not helpful
for everyone, some people are helped by using anti-snoring
pillows.

A healthy lifestyle can set you free. Stop snoring is a
concept that is linked to eating healthy and getting plenty
of exercise during the day. Things such as extra weight,
alcohol, drugs and smoking all contribute to a snoring
problem. If you can cut these things from your life, you may
be able to reduce or learn how to stop snoring.

Another possible cause of snoring is the type of medications
that you use. Many antihistamines and sleeping medications
will cause snoring. If allergies are the problem, you can
consult a doctor in order to get allergy medicine that will
not make you snore.

Over the counter nasals strips are among the best methods of
getting rid of your snoring problem. Using these strips to
open nasal passages during the night tends to help people
with snoring problems.

Snoring is indeed a frustrating problem. It can be serious,
however, if you find yourself struggling to breathe while
snoring. A doctor can direct you to a sleep specialist who
can assist you if this is your situation.