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Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

temertymedicine.utoronto.ca

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Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#131

Post by gushogg-blake »

nemo44x wrote: post #108
Aurornis wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is worth pursuing for anyone with the symptoms. However please do it with a reputable doctor, preferably associated with an established institution. Watch out for some of the specialty clinics and independent practice doctors who treat apnea like a cash cow. Sleep study scoring is theoretically set by strict rules, but in practice there can be differences between operators and clinics. Some clinics use this to t…

Get 2 opinions. And yes about weight - some people won’t have Apnea if they get their BMI to like 25 or whatever. Saying that I have a CPAP machine and love it.

Multiple opinions won't necessarily help unless you research first. I'm not sure about other disciplines but in orthodontics for example there is a very definite split between whether they are "airway focused" or mainstream. I saw 6 or 7 different doctors, dentists and orthos in the UK over a period of about 10 years and none of them saw anything wrong with my jaws. Saw an airway focused ortho and a surgeon specialising in maxillo-mandibular advancement surgery and they recommended aggressive surgery. I agree with them, mainstream medicine is ignoring an epidemic of jaw underdevelopment because it challenges current practices in orthodontics.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#132

Post by gushogg-blake »

y-curious wrote: post #83
shermantanktop wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having been down this path, it’s evident to me that the US has built up a sizable medical equipment industry around CPAP machines and their supplies. The sleep doctors who prescribe them don’t have many alternatives, so it’s the normal treatment they hand out. So it’s not a surprise that a casual mention of sleep quality ended with a CPAP machine rented by the month. It’s kind of what happened to me.

I’m always on HN talking about myofunctional therapy (my mom is a practitioner in NYC). Recommend looking into it in addition to losing weight as treatment.

Currently doing myo, and Buteyko! Glad to see someone else here. I've also done a MARPE.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#133

Post by tickerticker »

luxuryballs wrote: post #44

I always thought as a stomach sleeper why not get one of those massage table head rest things, face down symmetrical and wouldn’t gravity help keep things open then? Just have to build it into a cozy bed, not sure if that would be comfortable though.

I also thought of this idea and wanted to try it. Gemini said not to do it bc when we sleep, we naturally want to change positions. Thus, maintaining one position all night would cause muscle cramps?

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#134

Post by binary132 »

frankohn wrote: post #130

Just to share my experience. I think I was beginning to develop sleep apnea: I was waking up suddenly with an awful feeling of something terrible happening for no reason. The most terrible experience was waking up in the middle of the night with a sensation of dread I couldn't explain, and it took me half an hour to calm down. More generally, since I was young, I always slept part of the night with my mouth open and…

FWIW, I started experiencing the “night panics” (for lack of a better term) probably 10 years before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and once I began treatment they went away completely. So I am inclined to believe it’s definitely related.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#135

Post by ajkjk »

JoeyJoJoJr wrote: post #79
ajkjk wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

fwiw I really believe it is , my sleep problems come and go based on entirely physical variables--how flexible I feel, how much time I spent "shrimping", how tight my back and neck are. Personally I would not be surprised at all if in 50-100 years we look back on this era as one where we massively overprescribed CPAP machines to treat an entirely-fixable condition in most people (alongside all the other medical inter…

I don’t think it’s an outlandish take at all. You can possibly also put orthotics and spectacles in the list of interventions as solutions to problems largely induced by unnatural adaptations to an unnatural environment.

yeah... mostly I said it that way because this take upsets some people. The full list (which I think are 80+% fixable by lifestyle) is something like: sleep apnea, obesity, back pain, most things that require physical therapy outside of injuries, probably orthotics and myopia, depression, ADHD, anxiety... probably there are others I'm not thinking of also.

I would like to also include cancers since we cause most of them but that is maybe a different category. Although I have heard of theories that suggest diet can reduce skin cancer (e.g. the mediterranean diet phenomenon) as well as one that suggests exercise can reduce prostate cancer (by strengthening the muscles surrounding veins to prevent testosterone from leaking into the prostate), and of course smoking-related cancers are entirely preventable, so I would not be surprised if there are a lot more that are prevented by health lifestyles.

Generally it doesn't seem to work to just tell people to be healthy, though; to really get any of this work you need society at large to be structured in a healthy way so that it becomes the default instead of an act of willpower. But that seems.. imminently doable, if people want to do it. However it's a huge change, so it takes a movement. For example you pretty much have to make people's lifestyles more walking-oriented, which means rearranging society completely.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#136

Post by shermantanktop »

dgellow wrote: post #124
y-curious wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m always on HN talking about myofunctional therapy (my mom is a practitioner in NYC). Recommend looking into it in addition to losing weight as treatment.

First time I see that term „Oral myology plays also an important role in the management of patients with sleep breathing disorders and snoring where oropharyngeal exercises were found to reduce the severity and primary symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. Poor positioning of the tongue affects breathing and allows a series of events to occur that can affect the orofacial complex. Patients with sleep apnea and other b…

Mine is not noisy! It requires minor weekly cleaning, not a big deal.

The bigger problem is habituation to the mask/hose setup. If you sleep on your back you’ll have it easy. Side and stomach sleepers or people who turn a lot will have a harder time getting used to it.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#137

Post by dgellow »

shermantanktop wrote: post #136
dgellow wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First time I see that term „Oral myology plays also an important role in the management of patients with sleep breathing disorders and snoring where oropharyngeal exercises were found to reduce the severity and primary symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. Poor positioning of the tongue affects breathing and allows a series of events to occur that can affect the orofacial complex. Patients with sleep apnea and other b…

Mine is not noisy! It requires minor weekly cleaning, not a big deal. The bigger problem is habituation to the mask/hose setup. If you sleep on your back you’ll have it easy. Side and stomach sleepers or people who turn a lot will have a harder time getting used to it.

What model do you have?

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#138

Post by an0malous »

kombine wrote: post #104
an0malous wrote: post #29

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

Thank you for this, I will definitely try it today! What is your opinion on Wim Hof breathing exercises, are they helpful in a similar way? I am asking because I do them occasionally and feel great every time.

I’m not super familiar with them, I know some exercises focus on just your breathing rhythm and those probably won’t help with postural issues, but I think any breath exercises that involve feeling your breath in your body will help.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#139

Post by an0malous »

jfengel wrote: post #43
an0malous wrote: post #29

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

Nestor's book didn't feel right. I don't think he's a crank, or that he's entirely wrong, but the idea that we're breathing wrong feels really unlikely. You don't have to be taught to breathe. I'm sure that many of the lessons in the book are applicable and there is much to learn. But a lot of it felt like woo, even though I know full well that the author is a well-respected journalist. I'd really like to hear a soun…

> You don't have to be taught to breathe.

That’s where I would disagree. Sure there’s a baseline of breathing that everyone does otherwise they’d be dead, but I think the ceiling towards skillful breathing is very high. The difference is more obvious under athletic conditions like if you’re running or biking, just improving your breathing rhythm can improve your performance. There’s even a proper way to breathe if you’re weightlifting, some people might pick it up naturally but I know it’s also commonly taught.

In psychology I’m pretty sure it’s well established and not pseudo science that certain breathing rhythms can increase your energy or decrease your anxiety, I think I read that they teach box breathing to some parts of the military to help keep them calm during missions.

So there’s definitely a range of breathing ability for specific tasks.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#140

Post by an0malous »

Mistletoe wrote: post #126
an0malous wrote: post #29

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

Did you get a second sleep study after your breathing changes to confirm it fixed it?

No but I used Snore Lab app as well as Apple’s sleep tracking app, in addition to my subjective experience of not having a sore throat and feeling more refreshed in the mornings
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