Sleep and Health Journal

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.

A new article in the Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain by Michael Sorrell, MD of Tufts University showed excellent results in treating Migraine utilizing trigger point injections and physical therapy with supervised home stretching. The examination for myofascial trigger points is a step rarely done in normal neurological work-ups of migraine patients.

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.

A recent article (PubMed abstract below) in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology made the following conclusions "These findings confirm the hypothesis that triptans and ergot derivatives are associated with an increased risk of drug dependence"

Sleep apnea is a life threatening condition that can cause hear attacks, strokes, worsen diabetes,adversely affect short term memory loss and cognitive function and increase risks of motor vehicle accidents 600%. CPAP, or continuous positive air pressure is used to treat obstructive sleep apnea and is considered to be the gold standard of treatment.

A new article from Headache Jan 20, 2010 from the Carolina Headache Institute (see Pub Med abstract below) on the presence of neck pain in migraine showed that neck pain was more common than naseau. This is consistent with migraines being a trigeminal nerve disorder and/or a TMJ disorder.

A recent article "Development of temporomandibular disorders is associated with greater bodily pain experience" published in the the Clinical Journal of Pain shows that the development of TMD also leads to widespread pain throughout the body (abstract below). The study was done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by the Center for Neurosensory Disorders.

The Trigeminal nerve is acknowledged to play a role in most migraines and Tension-type Headaches.

This is partially taken from a blog on the http://www.IHATECPAP.com website. I think that it is important to have an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages to different surgical proceedure and also to understand how doing the wrong surgery first could create additional problems or morbidity when the most effective surgery is done.

I HATE HEADACHES is dedicated to helping patients learn about the benefits of Neuromuscular Dentistry (NMD) and to assist patients in finding a neuromuscular dentist. Patients with migraines, Tension-type headaches and chronic daily headaches can frequently find help in eliminating and avoiding these headaches with neuromuscular dental treatment.