Pillows, pills and potions

Millions of people go to bed hoping for a good night's sleep that never comes - and a vast industry now thrives on the desperation of insomniacs. But are we being sold a dream? Laura Barton reports, while below, Charlie Brooker describes the nightmare of chronic sleep deprivation

.

Read More

What Causes Snoring

There is no single cause of snoring, and people can develop the condition for different reasons. Basically, anything that makes the soft palate vibrate and the airway constrict while you are sleeping will cause snoring. Usually, this happens because something is blocked. Maybe you are congested, or the muscles in your throat and in the back of your mouth are excessively relaxed. Maybe it is just because you are growing older and some of your muscles are loosening up. In fact, some of the causes of snoring are still unknown to science today. Fortunately, there are many treatments that do work to some degree.

Because blocking of the nasal airway is the most frequent cause of snoring, anything that opens up it will help to treat it. One of my favorite anti-snoring treatments is to use nasal strips when I go to sleep. I've been snoring for years, and it still drives my wife crazy. Usually, she just elbows me to half wake me up, tells me to stop snoring, and lets me go back to sleep. When I use the nasal strips, however, I don't have the same problem with nasal congestion while I sleep. This treats the cause of snoring, making a quieter, sounder night of sleep. My wife sleeps better because my snoring doesn't wake her up, and I sleep better because my wife doesn't wake me up. In the end, everyone wins.

Of course, sometimes the cause of snoring is a little bit harder to treat. For example, obesity is one of the more common causes of snoring in America today. Being overweight causes fat to build up around the throat, constricting the airways more than usual. This can contribute to other conditions such as a deviated septum, resulting in much more frequent snoring. There is no easy fix for it. You simply have to lose the weight. They can take a long time, especially when you're not sleeping well. Since stress can contribute to bad lifestyle choices and sleeplessness can contribute stress, sometimes the cause of snoring is also a cause of continuing obesity. It really can be a vicious cycle.

Another common cause of snoring is drinking too much. I know when I've had a lot to drink, my wife always complain to me the next day that I snored all night. I think that it relaxes my throat somehow, making me snore more. I've actually had to cut back because I come down with sleep apnea when I go to bed drunk enough. That is a really scary feeling. You wake up in the middle of the night, suddenly unable to breathe. Any cause of snoring which is sufficiently powerful can cause sleep apnea. Fortunately, a stop snoring treatment can cure it.

Study finds snorers more likely to develop chronic bronchitis

WASHINGTON - People who snore regularly are more likely to develop chronic bronchitis, according to a study published Monday. Researchers at Korea University Ansan Hospital studied 4,270 individuals (52 percent men and 48 percent women) starting in 2001. Participants provided information on demographics, health conditions, family disease history and lifestyle, as well as details about how often they snored. They were interviewed again every two years through 2006. During the four years of follow-up, 314 people developed chronic bronchitis. Those who snored six to seven times a week were 68 percent more likely to develop bronchitis than those who never snored. Those who snored five times a week or less were 25 percent more likely to develop bronchitis. The association was strongest in individuals who had never smoked, who worked in the home or who were overweight.

Read More

Three New Studies Focus on Problems in Sleeping for Senior Citizens

Feb. 1, 2008 - Sleep problems seem to be a common discussion topic among senior citizens and three articles published in todays issue of the journal SLEEP speak to seniors. One finds respiratory sleep disturbances increase dramatically with age. Another says a higher periodic leg movement index (PLMI) predicted less sleep at night in older people with cognitive impairment and sleep disturbance. The third found a brief bout of non-REM sleep during a daytime nap clearly benefits a persons memory performance.

Respiratory disturbances during sleep increase significantly with age

.

Read More

Obstructive sleep apnea

These episodes of transient suspension of respiring last for approximately ten seconds or even longer. In obstructive sleep apnea, throat muscles have a tendency to block and relax the airway.

Obstructive sleep apnea treatment would principally include use of a device for keeping your airway tract open or else undergoing a special process for removing the tissue from your mouth, nose or throat.

Due to this, the passage of air is obstructed by the sagging muscles.

This corrects the respiring for that brief period, and this might repeat even as a pattern across the sleep, potentially following a sort of sequence of breaths, most likely even up to thirty times in 60 minutes, all thru the night. Sleep consumes as much as one in three or more of the average humans life. Even if folks hope for calm sleep, many sorts of sleep disorder cut back the quality and quantity of sleep. Snoring is the most typical reason for sleep disorder that is affecting folk. Obstructive sleep apnea : Loud, over the top snoring, interrupted by respiring blockages and breathing deeply. Other symptoms include over the top sleepiness in the daytime and obesity. Also, it was discovered that is commoner in male.

First snoring might be an early predictor for folks who will ultimately develop obstructive sleep apnea. This progression is much more likely in folks at ages 35-40 and who endure a weight gain. Medical implications : The obstructive sleep apnea should always be checked by a doctor. The proven fact that you wont receive the correct quantity of air will lead in time to major sicknesses. Smoking - Marlboro smoking has been demonstrated to be the reason for countless medical issues, including snoring.

The cause is the negative result of smoking on mucociliary clearance reducing the ciliary mobility, skyrocketing the higher airway blockages and permitting mucus to gather.

This effect can even happen thru exposure to used smoke. This corrects the respiring for that brief period, and this might repeat even as a pattern thru the sleep, presumably following a sort of sequence of breaths, most likely even up to thirty times in an hour, all thru the night. While asleep, sounds like those of gasping, snorting or choking could be made.

This oral appliance is intended to keep the throat open.

Dreams, bullpen stressing me out

I'm dreaming this the night before I'm supposed to write one lousy fill-in blog for DOB?

Such high standards you see, for the Braves/Man in Black. Or so sayeth my subconscious.

Let me back up for a second. For those not reading carefully it's CARROLL again - hey! Wassup? Long time! - and I'm feeling a little out of it after submersing myself in hockey (hockey?) and a little Hawks and Falcons for the last three months.

But with pitchers and catchers reporting in the we-can-almost-taste-it-now range, it's time for me to reacquaint myself with the little stitched round ball. And thank heaven for names with vowels. (Though I must say, Kovalchuk rolls off the fingertips pretty well by now….)

Camp Roger opens on Friday. And we'll enter the long-awaited no more talking, predicting, guessing portion of the program.

Read More

Bronchitis more likely in snorers

PEOPLE who snore regularly are more likely to develop chronic bronchitis, according to a study published today.

Researchers at Korea University Ansan Hospital studied 4270 people (52 per cent men and 48 per cent women) starting in 2001.

Why snoring might lead to bronchitis was not clear, said the team led by Inkyung Baik.

Participants provided information on demographics, health conditions, family disease history and lifestyle, as well as details about how often they snored. They were interviewed again every two years through 2006.

During the four years of follow-up, 314 people developed chronic bronchitis.

Those who snored six to seven times a week were 68 per cent more likely to develop bronchitis than those who never snored.

Read More

Housekeeper Heard Heath Snoring Hours Before Death

New details are emerging surrounding Heath Ledger's tragic death.

The New York Times, citing New York police officials, is reporting that Heath's housekeeper saw him sound asleep and snoring around 1 PM on Tuesday, just two hours before officials pronounced him dead.

When Heath's masseuse arrived for a scheduled appointment at 2:45 PM and he didn't answer his cell phone, she went inside his bedroom to check on him. When he wouldn't wake up, she called Mary-Kate Olsen, who is reportedly close to Heath, and Mary-Kate ordered her own security guards over to the Manhattan apartment. The masseuse called Mary-Kate twice before calling 911, according to the Times.

The masseuse then tried to revive Heath, and when emergency crews arrived, they did everything they could to save him to no avail.

Read More

Chronic bronchitis may account for snoring

The new investigation shows the presence of direct association and connection of snoring with chronic bronchitis.

A group of scientist found out that snoring is more prevalent in patients with chronic bronchitis than in people without it.

.


Read More

Soon, a bed that adjusts pillows

MELBOURNE: A bed that downloads movies to watch before bedtime, adjusts pillows, changes temperature, and even gives a massage is being created.

Mark Quinn of the company has revealed that the bed will come with sensors, temperature controls, internet connectivity, and a home theatre options.

"No one in the bedding industry has ever put so much technology into a bed or sleep system. It's a first for us and a first for the industry," ABC online quoted Quinn as saying.

He says that vibration sensors in the mattress will be capable of picking up a person's snoring, tossing and turning, and breathing patterns. The bed is being programmed to elevate the snorer's head seven degrees to open airwaves. It will return to its original position when the snoring stops.

Read More