The Prescription Pad
POSTED ON: February 24 2014
CATEGORIES:
Sleep Disorders
Posted by:Su-Lauren Wilson owner,CFO
read her story
Exciting New Sleep Apnea Treatment Before the FDA
If you suffer from sleep apnea, or know someone who does, you are hopefully aware of the potential danger of leaving your sleep apnea untreated. The lack of completing REM cycles takes a serious toll on your mind and body after a while and the sudden bursts and shortages of oxygen are damaging to the heart, lungs, and brain. People who suffer end up exhausted and their loved ones do too. The cycle is never-ending as sleep apnea will not cure itself. So what does one do?
Manufacturers have worked for years to make sleep apnea equipment more comfortable, including the face masks and machines, so that patients would wear them. But it's difficult for most people to sleep comfortably in the mask, and insurance will only cover so many extras. Aside from buying softer straps and masks, there are no other options for treating sleep apnea that the FDA has approved.
A new treatment is in testing though, and it is highly encouraging for those people who have not been able to lose weight or who feel hopeless in their struggle with sleep apnea. A surgical implant, written about here, stimulates the nerve that keeps your airway open when it senses you are struggling to breathe. While placing the implant is a surgical procedure, and so it won't be available or ideal for every one, it is new technology in a medical diagnosis that more and more people are living with.
The most accessible treatment for sleep apnea has always been losing weight, as the extra weight on the neck and chest is what causes the problem for many to begin with, but even if you suffer from sleep apnea for other muscular reasons, talking with your doctor is always the best first step. And while we are all waiting on the FDA, shop our selection of comfortable and improved CPAP medical equipment at Finnegan Medical Supply.
