Sleep and Health Journal

A new process (see release below) has been announced that may enable the early diagnosis of lung cancer thru a cheek swab. Dental patients are used to going in to the dentist for cleanings and exams. If this new test is nexpensive and has few false positives it will probably be a test that could be done on a regular basis in just a few extra seconds during dental appointments.

I had not read the report "Expert Panel Recommendations Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Safety" and have only read thru it briefly to this point. I do not know whether or not this report has been accepted by the Dept of Transportation and placed into written regulations.

Sleep apnea is a serious life threatening problem that is known to greatly increase risks of heart attacks and strokes. Patients with untreated sleep apnea have up to a six fold increase in motor vehicle accidents, short term memory loss, problems with elevated blood pressure, increased insulin resistance and many other problems.

Patients with fluctuating high blood pressure are at greater risk of stroke than patients with consistently high blood pressure. A frequent cause of elevated blood pressure (hypertension) is untreated sleep apnea. Patients with untreated sleep apnea frequently have wide swings in blood pressure at night and will often have high blood pressure in early morning readings.

CPAP is still considered the Gold Standard of treatment for obstructive sleep apnea treatment but the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) now considers Dental Sleep Medicine and Oral Appliances a first line approach for mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea.

Reducing tinnitus may be a side effect of treating sleep apnea and/or snoring with oral appliances. The study "Systematic assessment of the impact of oral appliance therapy on the temporomandibular joint during treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: long-term evaluation" The study found that seven out of nine patients wearing an oral appliance to treat sleep apnea had improvments in tinnitus.

An excellent article confirms the efficacy and mechanism of action of oral appliances in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. CPAP was once considered the first choice for treating all patients with sleep apnea but because of dismal compliance by patients Dental Sleep Medicine is becoming increasingly important as more and more patients switch to oral appliances.

An excellent article confirms the efficacy and mechanism of action of oral appliances in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. CPAP was once considered the first choice for treating all patients with sleep apnea but because of dismal compliance by patients Dental Sleep Medicine is becoming increasingly important as more and more patients switch to oral appliances.

The following is a reprint of a 24/7 press release. I hhate CPAP.com has remarkable growth and is succeeding in its goal of marketing Dental Sleep Medicine and Oral Appliance Therapy for treating sleep apnea.

PRESS RELEASE: November 11, 2009

Michael Farrell is the global head of ResMed’s Sleep Business Unit. As a Senior Vice President of the second largest maker of CPAP his October 1,2009 announcement that it had acquired Laboratoires Narval (“Narval”) in Lyon. Narval is the French manufacturer and distributer of oral appliances for the treatment of sleep