Our Chicago dental patients often suffer from sleep apnea, insomnia, chronic snoring and other sleep disorders. Your Chicago dentist Dr. John Kelly offers Chicago sleep apnea sufferers the latest tools and techniques to help normalize sleep patterns and improve life for his patients.
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Chicago sleep apnea sufferers are part of the 12 to 18 million Americans who have moderate to severe sleep apnea. The consequences are much more than running tired or having a lack of energy for normal activities. They can include hypertension, stomach reflux, heart attacks, frequent sicknesses, diabetes, impotence, depression, and weight gain. People with sleep apnea also struggle to function during the day, falling asleep at the wheel, and experiencing irritability, loss of concentration, impaired school or work performance, marital problems and fatigue.
What is Sleep Apnea Chicago?
For people with sleep apnea, their upper airway becomes narrowed or blocked periodically during sleep. That keeps air from reaching the lungs. Breathing then stops for seconds to over a minute until the muscles pull hard enough to overcome the obstruction, often in the throat, causing them to cough or choke and then breathe. This stressful event can happen hundreds of times during the night. You do not always wake up but instead it can move a person from a deep sleep to a light sleep, when breathing resumes. So Chicago sleep apnea sufferers may have enough hours in the bed yet not have recovery sleep, leaving them to struggle during the day physically. If this keeps occurring nightly, the body will slowly erode in health physiologically.
Testing for Chicago Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by a reduction or pause of breathing (airflow) during sleep. It is common among adults but rare among children. Although a diagnosis of sleep apnea often will be suspected on the basis of a person’s medical history, there are several tests that can be used to confirm the diagnosis. Apneas are usually measured during sleep (preferably in all stages of sleep) over a 2-hour period. An apnea is a period of time during which breathing stops or is markedly reduced. It occurs when a person stops breathing completely, or takes less than 25% of a normal breath, for a period that lasts 10 seconds or more. A 4% drop in oxygen in the blood also indicates sleep apnea as it is a direct result of the reduction in the transfer of oxygen into the blood when breathing stops.
Sleep Apnea Treatment Chicago with Your Chicago Dentist
The treatment of sleep apnea can be either surgical or nonsurgical. As part of his Chicago dental practice, your Chicago dentist Dr. Kelly uses a variety of custom airway orthotics depending on the type and severity of the sleep apnea problem. They are comfortable, easy to use and very effective.