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Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)09/25/2018Dr. J Tim Rainey, DDS, and his assistant, Mary Claire Gray, RDH, gave a presentation to the Refugio Lions club covering one of the most underdiagnosed and dangerous health dilemmas’ facing modern man, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Several startling statistics were covered, including a recently released study that proved severe OSA to increase the risk of dying more than twice that of people who smoke! Another study just completed in neighboring Corpus Christi and presented in June focused on increased risk of death in stroke victims with severe OSA. This is one of the few studies that have been able to focus on ethnicity. It was found that persons of Mexican-American descent were 1.7 times more likely to die of OSA complications after suffering a stroke. Dr. Rainey and Ms. Gray stressed that most adults have OSA, and since the events occur when sleeping, most OSA patients are not aware of their OSA. It is recommended that every adult have a sleep study and then a follow up study as ordered by their physician. The markers for sleep apnea in the sleep studies are episodes of interrupted breathing for ten seconds or more referred to as the Apnea/Hypoxic Index (AHI) events. These obstructive events cause a disruption of sleep, and a state of arousal as the body responds to a mini crisis and dumps cortisol and epinephrine as part of the Sympathetic Autonomic nervous system “Flight or Fright” mechanism, disrupting sound sleep. ?EVERYONE apparently will experience these episodes while asleep. The bad side effects and consequences kick in when there are more than five of these episodes an hour during a night of sleep. More than five and less than thirty an hour, and the consensus is that these can usually be successfully managed through Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT) for Sleep Related Breathing Disorder (SRBD). These appliances are referred to as Mandibular Advancement Appliances (MADs) for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). If the episodes are more than thirty an hour in a night, a CPAP night time breathing assist machine is strongly advised. Again, individuals are urged to contact their physician and request a sleep study. There are sleep centers in Victoria, less than an hour from here, and Dr. Rainey’s office can provide a very accurate take-home machine for a study in your own bed. Upon receiving the results Dr. Rainey and Ms. Gray can help interpret and meet the prescription needs.For more information, please refer to Dr. Rainey’s website, and click on the informative PowerPoint, Sleep Apnea Short.This and more opinion articles are available on the website. Dr. Rainey is known for his research into tooth structure and has lectured worldwide on these topics. He can be reached @ drrainey@ or 361 526 4695. Dr. Rainey maintains a private practice in Refugio, Texas @ 606 Osage ................
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