Obstructive sleep apnea is an illness that should not be ignored. Usually it is the partner of the person with the disorder who makes the diagnosis of the sleep apnea because they are unable to sleep at night. A person with it not only tends to snore loudly at night, but they also flail their arms and legs around a lot as well. This happens when their snoring causes their lungs to stop breathing. After a minute or so of not breathing our bodies have a natural instinct to try to wake ourselves up so we will breathe again. Thus we flail our arms and legs to wake up, and we hit our partner in bed with us. Our partner probably was not sleeping because of the loud snoring anyway, but a good punch in the nose is guaranteed to wake anyone up.
Test after test has shown that sleep apnea can cause death in a patient if that patient goes undiagnosed or untreated. The stoppage of breathing can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and untold other medical problems. If a person is overweight and has obstructive sleep apnea their problem is multiplied because of the weight added to the pressure placed on the lungs as the lungs expand and contract. It is imperative that the soft palate area of the mouth not collapse which closes the air passageway into the chest. When a person suffers from these critical problems, they absolute must seek help to rectify their breathing problems, and the bruising of their bed mate. A sleep apnea dental appliance may be your answer.
There are some exciting new advances being made in the field of obstructive sleep apnea. There is now a dental appliance available. A patient would need to find a dentist who specializes in this field. These dentists would be able to secure previous medical records. Probably what would happen is that the dentist would make a cast of the patients teeth. The cast would be made "of a dental appliance that locks the jaw in place". This would prevent snoring. Patients who have used this device swear by it and would not go back to the CPAP type device. It is hoped that these devices become more available across the country for other people who suffer from sleep apnea and would love to have such a dental appliance.
Rick Swanson is a full-time article writer who enjoys writing on a variety of topics and personal interests. His latest is Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance, which you can read more about at http://www.daytondentalonline.com/our-services/sleep-apnea-dental-appliance.php.