SYMPATHETIC AND PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM IMPROVED WITH DENTAL APNEA DEVICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 30, 2008 --

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SYMPATHETIC AND PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM IMPROVED WITH DENTAL APNEA DEVICE

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http://www.ihatecpap.com

It is well known that there is increased sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity as measures by blood levels of catecholamine or heart rate variability. Another study in the same Volume of Sleep "EFFECT OF TREATMENT WITH MANDIBULAR DEVICE (MAD) ON AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY AS MEASURED BY HEART RATE VARIABILITY." that was done under an NIH NICDR grant number DE016772 showed that oral appliances had the same positive effects on heart rate variability as CPAP. Mandibular advancement devices have the same positive effects as CPAP on the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system, this fact supports the continued use of oral appliances as an important alternative to CPAP. This study was done by Popovic D, Johnson R, Morgan T, Westbrook P, and Levendowski D, Berka C at Advanced Brain Monitoring Center at Scripps Memorial Hospital.

This is an extremely important study as it proves again that oral appliances have effects similar to CPAP. CPAP is still considered the Gold Standard for sleep apnea treatment but far fewer than half of patients prescribed CPAP actually use it. Other studies have shown that even among users of CPAP most wear it only4-5 hours/day not the recommended 7 1/2 -8 hours /day

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has a report CARDIOVASCULAR AND SLEEP-RELATED CONSEQUENCES OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR DISORDERS that discuss many of these issues which can be found at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/workshops/tmj_wksp.pdf

Another recent study shows 48% found not to have Sleep Apnea on first sleep study have sleep apnea on repeat study. The study from Kingston, On, Canada was published in SLEEP, Volume 31, Abstract supplement, 2008

Patients complaining of excessive daytime sleepiness should not rule out sleep apnea as a cause after a single sleep study with and AHI under 5. This study by Carlile J and Carlile N is important if widely overlooked. They found that 48% of patients who had complaints of daytime sleepiness and original sleep studies that showed the absence of sleep apnea actually had sleep apnea when retested.

They concluded that patients should not be told they do not have sleep apnea after a single study if they have daytime sleepiness. The false negative rate of the first study based solely on second study information is enormous.

This is startling news when one considers the dangers of sleep apnea. There is a six-fold increase in heart attacks and strokes and many conditions like diabetes worsen with untreated apnea. MVA also have a 600% increase with patients with untreated apnea having slower reaction times than patients who are legally drunk. The authors found no criteria that allowed them to discriminate between the patients who had AHI>=5 and those that did not.


Patients wishing to learn more about the dangers of sleep apnea or the use of oral appliances to treat apnea should go to www.ihatecpap.com This site was established by Dental Sleep Medicine pioneer Dr Ira L Shapira as a patient resource for information and to find dentists who treat sleep apnea with oral appliances.

Dr Shapira is a Lake County, Illinois dentist who focuses on treatment of sleep apnea and snoring as well as TMJ disorders. He has recently formed Chicagoland Dental Sleep Medicine Associates with offices in Skokie, Schaumburg and Bannockburn with several additional Chicago offices planned in 2009. Dr Shapira's dental practice is in Gurnee where he practices with his partner Dr Mark Amidei.

Dr Shapira can be reached at his Gurnee office 847-623-5530 or toll free at 1-8-NO-PAP-MASK

HIS WEBSITES WWW.IHATECPAP.COM , WWW.IHATEHEADACHES.ORG OR DELANYDENTALCARE.COM

More information can be found online at http://www.ihatecpap.com

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