Sleep and Health Journal

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.

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.

According to information on the AADSM website "the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine supports new guidelines that identify oral appliance therapy as an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.

Patients with untreated apnea are are a hazard on the road. According to studies snorers have three times more motor vehicle accidents that the average driver. Patients with untreated sleep apnea have a six-fold increase in motor vehicle accidents and slower reaction times that drivers who are legally drunk.

Patients with untreated apnea are are a hazard on the road. According to studies snorers have three times more motor vehicle accidents that the average driver. Patients with untreated sleep apnea have a six-fold increase in motor vehicle accidents and slower reaction times that drivers who are legally drunk.

A study in the Journal of Orofacial Pain examined patients diagnosed with sleep apnea and found that 52% of the patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea had symptoms of TMD. The primary problem was myofascial pain that was sometimes related to jaw opening.

This study showed a two-fold increase in TMJ disorders in patients with Gerd. While there are multiple causes of Gerd, sleep disordered breathing and sleep apnea are frequently involved. If the airway collapses on inspiration then the vacumn "sucks" acid out of the stomache and into the throat. It is interesting that the study found that myofascial pain was common in the TMD group.

SLEEP AND HEALTH JOURNAL IS PLEASED TO SUPPORT THE AMERICAN SLEEP APNEA ASSOCIATION FOR ITS NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EFFECT OF SLEEP APNEA ON COMMERCIAL DRIVERS HEALTH AND SAFETY.