Wake Up Call For Snorers
You may be aware that the most common time someone gets a heart attack or dies suddenly is late at night or early morning when the person is actually in sound sleep. Worldwide research and statistics prove beyond doubt that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is one of the most important conditions responsible for this.
Snoring, a common social problem is the vibratory sound produced when the air passage (windpipe) gets partially blocked during the so-called deep sleep cycle. When the air passage gets completely blocked, it is called OSA. And when this happens, the oxygen levels in the body reduces, making the brain wake the person up from deep sleep, resulting in temporary opening of the airway so as to resume breathing. This vicious cycle continues the whole night leading to sleep fragmentation and inadequate rest.
The result is, daytime sleepiness, irritability and fatigue which in the long run leads to blood pressure problems, diabetes and heart disease. It the choking episodes occurs frequently and for a longer duration (severe OSA), one is prone to heart attack, heart failure, stroke etc. For many years, OSA was treated with an air mask, which is applied on the tace throughout the night, lifelong, to push extra air in to the airway to prevent it from collapsing. However, approximately two-thirds of the people suffering with OSA are not able to tolerate this and remain untreated.
Treatment
There are also many new methods available today to prevent this. Some of them are mentioned here. The patient is put to sleep and permitted to snore in the endoscopy room with medication, where a tiny camera is passed through the nose to find out the area of the nose and throat responsible for snoring and apnea.
With the help of plasma (coblation) technology or the da Vinci robotic arms, the tissues in the throat is tnmmed without causing any bleeding or incisions and most of the patients are cured by this minimally invasive surgery. The beauty of this surgery is that it provides surgeons with much improved dexterity and precision to access the base of the tongue for surgical procedures and is conducted with the use of robotic arms operated by surgeons.
The surgeon controls the system which translates the doctor’s hand movements in to smaller, more precise movements with tiny instruments inside the body, allowing the surgeon to access the tight space at the base of the tongue.
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