The widely used club drug ecstasy appears to increase the risk of sleep apnea, say U.S. researchers.

“People who use ecstasy need to know that this drug damages the brain and can cause immediate and dangerous problems such as sleep apnea,” study author Dr. Una McCann, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in a news release.

McCann and colleagues conducted sleep tests on 71 people who’d used ecstasy (MDMA) and 62 people who’d never used the illegal drug. Ecstasy users had a more than eight-fold increased risk of sleep apnea compared to non-users. Mild sleep apnea rates were similar in both groups (21% of ecstasy users and 27% of non-users), but only ecstasy users had moderate (13%) or severe (1%) sleep apnea.

The longer a person used ecstasy, the more sleep apnea episodes they experienced, said the researchers. They also found that ecstasy use was a greater risk factor for sleep apnea than obesity.

The study is published in the Dec. 2 online issue of the journal Neurology.

Source: http://www.medicinenet.com

To stop snoring would be a priority for health reasons alone, however there are other concerns. Could it be affecting your relationship? Over half the adults who snore sleep in separate rooms to their partners, doesn’t argue well for marital bliss does it?

Snoring can leave you tired and cranky in the morning. Follow these seven steps for sound sleep:

1. Change Sleep Position

There are many experts that recommend avoiding sleeping on the back if snoring is a problem. Changing the sleeping position can help to increase the ease of airflow that can occur through the nose, mouth and to the lungs. Therefore, sometimes, the culprit of snoring can be seen in the sleeping position. Experts recommend sleeping on your side for best results when trying to quell snoring.

2. Lose Weight

Overweight people tend have bulky neck tissue which increases snoring risk. If you are overweight, losing just modest amount of weight - even just 10% of your body weight — can help you stop snoring.

3. Use a Good Pillow

A good pillow, how old is yours? You don’t want to know what can live in old pillows! Should it be consigned to the rubbish bin? Could it be causing allergies?

4. Avoid Alcohol and Pills

Both alcohol and sleeping pills can depress your central nervous system and relax the muscles of your throat and jaw, making snoring more likely. These substances are also known to contribute to sleep apnea, a dangerous condition that has been linked with cardiovascular disease. And they should never, ever be used together. Read The Full Story…

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. Each episode, called an apnea, lasts long enough so that one or more breaths are missed, and such episodes occur repeatedly throughout sleep. The standard definition of any apneic event includes a minimum 10 second interval between breaths, with either a neurological arousal (a 3-second or greater shift in EEG frequency, measured at C3, C4, O1, or O2), a blood oxygen desaturation of 3-4% or greater, or both arousal and desaturation. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram, or a “Sleep Study”.

Sleep apnea is a common disorder that affects more than 18 million people in the United States. In many of these people, the condition is undiagnosed. OSA takes its name from the Greek word apnea, which means “without breath.” People with sleep apnea literally stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, often for a minute or longer and as many as hundreds of times during a single night.

Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are:

- Frequent silences during sleep due to breaks in breathing (apnea)

- Choking or gasping during sleep to get air into the lungs

- Loud snoring

- Sudden awakenings to restart breathing or waking up in a sweat

- Daytime sleepiness and feeling unrefreshed by a night’s sleep, including falling asleep at inappropriate times

Causes and risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea:

When you have obstructive sleep apnea, your throat collapses during sleep, blocking the airway and preventing air from getting to the lungs. Generally, your throat muscles keep the throat and airway open.

Primary causes and risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea

- Being overweight or obese (although 50% of people with sleep apnea are not obese)

- Large tonsils or adenoids Read The Full Story…

Between 20 to 40 percent of adults snore. It is a problem if you are disturbing yourself or your sleep partner. Snoring stops sleep patterns, which can cause to sleep deficit. The effects of sleep deficit can include low energy, foggy thinking and daytime sleepiness. The absence of oxygen flowing to the brain that occurs when someone snores can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.

To find the cure for the problem of snoring, there are many stop snoring devices. Most of them are specific to the problem so before the use of any stop snoring device, it is always a good idea to understand the reasons behind snoring.

The Noiselezz is a non-intrusive mouthpiece that holds the lower jaw slightly forward of its normal position during sleep, thus opening the airway in the throat and eliminating the vibration that causes snoring.

SomnoGuard stops snoring and reduces nocturnal respiratory arrests, and thereby improves the quality of sleep. The oral appliance worn at night is made from thermoflexible copolymers. It can be directly moulded in the mouth after being heated in boiling water. It’s main effect is the advancement of the lower jaw, thereby opening the upper airway. Fitting is quite simple, does not require any special tools, and can be completed within a few minutes.

Read The Full Story…

This revolutionary sleeps technique enables you to sleep better by stopping the nightly struggle. In most cases, sleep devices are safer and less intrusive than medications to treat sleep problems. It also helps you increase energy levels during the day with unique power naps or performance breaks.

Here are some of the main types of sleep devices:

1. Dreamate uses accupressure techniques to gently massage the “sleeping golden triangle” on your left wrist. Used 30 minutes before bedtime, you can retune and reset your biological clock and train your body to relax and sleep. See results in as little as a week’s worth of use, with best results after eight weeks. These precise pressure points, when gently massaged, calm the body, lower stress levels, and induce sleep. Unlike addictive sleeping pills that knock you senseless, but offer little improvement in your sleep quality.

2. CPAP device. One way to treat people who have sleep apnea is a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. A CPAP device includes a mask, tubes and a fan. It uses air pressure to push your tongue forward and open your throat. This allows air to pass through your throat. It reduces snoring and prevents apnea disturbances.You should put your CPAP device on whenever you sleep, even for naps. A CPAP device does not cure sleep apnea. But, when you use the device correctly, your sleep problems should get much better.

3. Anti snoring pillow. Anti snoring pillows are available to help stop snoring and to provide comfort while on your sleep. These are designed in such a way that the central pillow area is thinner than the portions around the edges. With anti snoring pillows, the user’s head is aligned with the spinal column regardless of the sleeping position. This provides for no obstruction on the breathing airway.Anti snoring pillows come in standard sizes and are usually white in color. The fillings may vary, and mainly covered with anti-allergy material.

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