A good night's sleep is vital for women if they want to remain physically and mentally healthy. Getting out on the "wrong side of the bed" has long been blamed for giving people a hostile behavior; but now a study has shed light on what the real cause of grumpiness may be - and though it's related to your sleeping habits, it has nothing to do with how you get up.

Researchers at North Carolina's Duke University Medical Center have found that poor sleep may increase the likelihood of developing a raft of health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression.

Not getting enough sleep can also contribute to feelings of hostility and anger, though the researchers found women were more likely to be made grumpy by a lack of sleep than men were.

"This is the first empirical evidence that supports what we have observed about the role of gender and its effects upon sleep and health," said Edward Suarez, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke and the lead author of the study.

"The study suggests that poor sleep - measured by the total amount of sleep, the degree of awakening during the night, and most importantly, how long it takes to get to sleep - may have more serious health consequences for women than for men."

Study participants were asked to complete a sleep quality questionnaire and to rate various aspects of their sleep over a period of one month.

Additional measures assessed the extent of any depression, anger, hostility and perceived social support from friends and family.

Both men and women participated in the test, although women on hormone therapy treatments - which have been shown to alter sleep patterns in some people - were excluded from the study.

All of the 210 participants were apparently healthy non-smokers.

Although none had a history of sleep disorders, the researchers found 40 per cent of participants took more than 30 minutes to fall asleep and woke frequently during the night - the mark of a "poor sleeper", according to the study.

And while their sleep quality ratings were similar, men and women were found to have dramatically different risk profiles.

"We found that for women, poor sleep is strongly associated with high levels of psychological distress, and greater feelings of hostility, depression and anger, said Suarez.

"In contrast, these feelings were not associated with the same degree of sleep disruption in men."
Blood samples taken from the participants were measured for levels of biomarkers associated with increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, including insulin and glucose levels, fibrinogen (a clotting factor) and two inflammatory proteins, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein.

The study showed that women who reported they had trouble falling asleep also had higher insulin levels and higher levels of the inflammatory proteins associated with heart disease.

"Interestingly, it appears that it's not so much the overall poor sleep quality that was associated with greater risk, but rather the length of time it takes a person to fall asleep that takes the highest toll," said Suarez.

"Women who reported taking a half an hour or more to fall asleep showed the worst risk profile."

Suarez plans to conduct further studies into the relationship between health risk and poor sleep in men and women.

"Good sleep is related to good health. More research needs to be done to define gender-linked responses to poor sleep, including the role that sex hormones play over a lifetime and how sleep needs and responses change from childhood to maturity," he said.

GOOD-POOR SLEEP IS RELATED TO GOOD-POOR HEALTH

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We live in a "quick fix" world. Everywhere we turn, there are miracle cures for whatever ails you.

Whether you have a headache, backache, depression, bladder infection, or anything under the sun, there is usually some quick remedy to make it better.

What happens when your problem doesn't fall under the scope of traditional ailments? What happens if your problem is snoring? Have you ever heard of an apnea sleep pillow? If you have problems with snoring, you know how frustrating the habit can be. Not only does it disturb your spouse or partner's sleep, it also leaves you feeling tired and drained the next day. No, that's not your imagination.

You may have been puzzled at how you can be tired after having a full eight hours sleep. The bottom line is that when you snore, you actually don't enjoy a good night's rest. That's where an apnea sleep pillow can help.

It's true that snoring interrupts your normal pattern of sleep. Those people who suffer from sleep apnea have snoring patterns that vary in volume. They are interrupted by silences that are then interrupted by odd sounds such as a gasp or a snort.

This is because the snorer is actually experiencing a lapse in breathing. Apnea sufferers often go without breathing for more than ten seconds. That gasping and wheezing sound or that snort is a sign that the person is struggling to catch a breath.

This is just one of the reasons why people have turned to apnea sleep pillows for relief. Sleep apnea pillows are specially designed to help you stop snoring. Since snoring occurs as a response to an obstructed airway, apnea sleep pillows are equipped with elevated foam panels designed specifically to open the airways as much as possible and provide for even, uninterrupted breathing.

If you are dismissing the idea of an apnea sleep pillow by telling yourself you'll just continue taking an over-the-counter sleeping pill, think again. Any type of sedative can actually worsen your snoring symptoms. So, although the pill may help send you straight to sleep, it won't boost your quality of sleep. You could still experience apnea episodes.

Each time a person has an apnea episode, his or her body actually shifts into a lower, less restful state of sleep. This explains why patients report being tired and drained all day. Many times it is not about the quantity of sleep but rather the quality. An sleep apnea pillow can help you enjoy a more restful sleep. You'll be shocked at the difference a pillow can make.

Sleep apnea pillows don't work for everyone, but countless people have enjoyed the benefits. If you think you suffer from sleep apnea, you need to keep in mind that this is a serious condition that could lead to other illnesses. You should seek medical expertise in order to garner a proper diagnosis. Only your physician can truly give you the best advice on the treatment path you should follow.

GOOD-POOR SLEEP IS RELATED TO GOOD-POOR HEALTH

Many people sleep with their mouth open. Gradually, muscle tissues in the mouth and throat are stretched beyond their intended range. When this happens, snoring and the health risks associated with OSA increase.

An effective jaw supporter holds the lower jaw forward and helps re-train tissue in the mouth and throat, allowing it the opportunity to contract and return to it's original condition.

Like allergies, you probably weren't born with a snore. Rather, you acquired it over time. For many the Jaw Supporter alone helps eliminate snoring and the symptoms associated with mild cases of OSA. For some, there may be times when snoring still occurs. In most cases, this can be caused by seven contributing factors.

How A Jaw Supporter Helps Prevent OSA Episodes.

The Jaw Supporter is based on the same principle as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The airway must be opened to allow air to pass through the throat. A constricted or collapsed airway causes snoring and/or OSA. The Jaw Supporter holds the lower jaw in a forward position so that it does not fall open during the night and cause the airway to collapse. Maintaining a clear airway improves breathing and reduces snoring.

The Jaw Supporter helps provide healthy REM sleep and helps maintain normal jaw position and reduce OSA associated health risks without the need for surgery, medications, cumbersome devices or therapy.

SLEEP STAGES AND SUCCESSFUL SLEEP

Human sleep can be described as a succession of five recurring stages: four non-REM stages and the REM stage. A sixth stage, waking, is often included. Waking, in this context, is actually the phase during which a person falls asleep.

WAKING

In this stage the body prepares for sleep. All people fall asleep with tense muscles and their eyes moving erratically. As a person becomes sleepier, the body begins to slow down, muscles relax and eye movement slows to a roll.

STAGE 1

Stage 1 sleep, or drowsiness, is often described as first in the sequence. The eyes are closed during Stage 1 sleep, but if aroused from it, a person may feel as if he or she has not slept. Stage 1 may last for five to 10 minutes.

STAGE 2

Stage 2 is a period of light sleep during which the heart rate slows and body temperature decreases. At this point, the body prepares to enter deep sleep.

STAGES 3 AND 4

These are deep sleep stages, with Stage 4 being more intense than Stage 3. Stages 1-4 are non-REM sleep stages and lasts from 90 to 120 minutes, each stage lasting anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Stages 2 and 3 repeat backwards before REM sleep is attained. A normal sleep cycle has this pattern: waking, stage 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM. Typically, REM sleep occurs approximately 90 minutes after sleep onset.

STAGE 5 - REM SLEEP

REM sleep is distinguishable from NREM sleep by changes in physiological states, including its characteristic rapid eye movements. Intense dreaming occurs during REM sleep as a result of heightened cerebral activity, but paralysis occurs simultaneously in the major voluntary muscle groups. It is generally thought that REM-associated muscle paralysis is meant to keep the body from acting out the dreams that occur during this intensely cerebral stage. The first period of REM typically lasts 10 minutes, with each recurring REM stage lengthening, and the final one lasting an hour.

SLEEP CYCLE
The five stages of sleep, including their repetition, occur cyclically. The first cycle, which ends after the completion of the first REM stage, usually lasts for 100 minutes. Each subsequent cycle lasts longer, as its respective REM stage extends. So a person may complete five cycles in a typical night's sleep.

BE NATURAL - BE HEALTHY

The study group consists of 10 people who, from December 2000 through December 2002, underwent sleep study testing (polysomnography) at Provena St. Mary Hospital in Kankakee, IL.

At the conclusion of the testing some of the participants were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and were prescribed a Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine to assist him or her to obtain restful sleep.

Some of the participants were not diagnosed with OSA and their information is posted for the purpose of comparing the number of snores during the separate studies.

In December of 2002, the same 10 patients returned to Provena St. Mary Hospital to participate in an additional polysomnography test during which the participants slept through the night using the MySnoringSolution.com Snoring Stopper Jaw Supporter. The jaw supporter was used instead of their CPAP machine. The comparative results are significant.

60% of the patients experienced:
*   A substantial reduction in the number of sleep apnea events
*   A substantial reduction in the number of snores
*   Lower blood pressure readings in the morning

80% experienced:
*   An increase in their oxygen saturation level

POLYSOMNOGRAPHY, SNORING AND OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA DEFINED POLYSOMNOGRAPHY

A Polysomnography is a diagnostic test during which a number of physiologic variables are measured and recorded during sleep. Physiologic sensor leads are placed on the patient in order to record:

*   Brain electrical activity
*   Eye and jaw muscle movement
*   Leg muscle movement
*   Airflow
*   Respiratory effort (chest and abdominal excursion)
*   EKG
*   Oxygen saturation
*   Apnea episodes
*   Hypopneas
*   Snores

Information is gathered from all leads and fed into a computer and outputted as a series of waveform tracings, which enable the technician to visualize the various waveforms, assign a score for the test, and assist in the diagnostic process. Seven electrodes (labeled C3, C4, A1, A2 O1, O2 and Ground) are placed around the cranium to record electrical activity across the brain. These leads are used to determine the stage of sleep the patient is in during any given period of the night.

One electrode is placed above and to the outside of the right eye, and another electrode is placed below and to the outside of the left eye. These leads record the movements of the eyes during sleep and serve to help determine sleep stages.

Three leads are placed on the chin (one in the front and center and the other two underneath and on the jawbone) and two are placed on the inside of each calf muscle 2-4cm apart. These leads serve to demonstrate muscle movement during sleep. This is helpful in documenting a wake period, an arousal, or just a spastic movement.

Two electrodes are placed on the upper chest near the right and left arms. These record the heart rate and rhythm and serve to alert the technician to a possible emergency situation. They also demonstrate whether or not apneic desaturation leads to arrhythmias.

A thermistor or thermocouple sensor device that looks similar to a nasal cannula is secured just under the patient's nose. This device senses the amount of air moving into and out of the airways and sends a signal to a physiological recorder. This tracing is used to determine the presence and extent of apnea episodes.

Two Velcro bands, one placed around the chest under the breasts and one around the abdomen, serve to determine chest wall and abdominal movements during breathing. Each band is joined together by a piezo crystal transducer. The force of chest/abdominal expansion on the bands stretches the transducer and alters the signal to a physiological recorder.

These leads, combined with the airflow sensor, are how apnea is demonstrated and categorized during the test.

Oxygen saturation is measured by a pulse oximeter probe placed on the patient i.e. finger, earlobe, etc.

BE NATURAL - BE HEALTHY

Dental Surgeons Say They've Found Why Snoring Can Kill

Snoring can indicate serious upper airway disorders. Blocked airways increase blood pressure, damaging arteries and leading to stroke.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Dental surgeons discover why snoring can kill: It can actually cause damage to the arteries.

Although considered harmless, snoring can actually indicate a serious medical condition called sleep apnea. Marked by irregular breathing, sleep apnea often causes sufferers to stop breathing completely for up to several seconds and has even been linked to stroke and heart disease in some patients.

"When persons with sleep apnea fall asleep, their tongue falls back into their throat, blocking their airway," Dr. Arthur Friedlander, an oral surgeon who worked on the study conducted at University of California's School of Dentistry, said in a statement.

"As they struggle for breath, their blood pressure soars...This rise in blood pressure damages the inner walls of the carotid arteries lining the sides of the neck," he added. "Cholesterol and calcium stick to the injury sites and amass into calcified plaques, which block blood flow to the brain. The result is often a massive stroke."

According to Dr. Friedlander, these deposits of calcium deposits are merely the tip of the iceberg. "The X-ray can't show the true size of the plaque, which is also made up of fat, platelets, and other soft tissue." When a person is suffering from sleep apnea, air cannot flow in or out of the nose or mouth. Oxygen is not taken in so carbon dioxide builds to dangerous levels in the blood.

"It's like pressing a pillow over someone's face," Friedlander said.

Are Kids Snoring Their Way To ADHD?

CNN Headline News Researchers conclude sleepiness and apnea may be exhibited as symptoms of ADHD.

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- New research suggests children who snore face nearly double the risk of being inattentive and hyperactive, providing fresh evidence of an intriguing link between sleep problems and attention deficit disorders.

CNN Headline News recently reported on a study that new research suggests children who snore face nearly double the risk of being inattentive and hyperactive, providing fresh evidence of an intriguing link between sleep problems and attention deficit disorders.

Children's behaviorial problems may be linked to their sleep habits, according to a new study. Children who snore often are nearly twice as likely as other children to have attention and hyperactivity problems, found a new study by the University of Michigan Health System. The results, published in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics, provide some of the most solid evidence ever of a link between sleep problems and behavior. The link is strongest in boys under 8. Snorers in this group were more than three times more likely than non-snorers to be.

The National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research estimates that 38,000 cardiovascular deaths, due to sleep apnea, occur each year in the US. Over the long term, serious sleep apnea conditions have been linked to a greater risk of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. However, sleep apnea was not well understood or recognized by the medical community until recently. And only a fraction of sufferers have been diagnosed and treated.

Depression and Insomnia in Women

One of the main concerns with lack of sleep for women is depression contributed to lack of sleep. If you suffer from sleep apnea your unable to get the needed rest to handle the day-to-day activities.

This affects a woman's hormone level, which will cause more sensitivity, mood swings, and irritability. Many women who are in search of more satisfying slumber are buying a hormone called Melatonin. Doctors have found that a high percentage of depressed patients suffer from insomnia, which compounds the depression.

Women have a higher chance of insomnia after menopause.

The American College of Cardiology found that 33 percent of 71,779 female nurses aged 40 to 65 who snored were more at risk of developing cardiovascular disease that those who did not snore. Sleep apnea affects up to 2 percent of the female population.

Love Handles and Fat Gain in Men

Men who suffer with obstructive sleep apnea often gain weight in the abdomen due to the process of age.

As men age, they typically get less and less sleep. With less deep sleep or slow wave sleep there is less bodily production of the growth hormone. That deficiency is associated with increased fat tissue and abdominal obesity, reduced muscle mass and strength, and reduced exercise capacity.

Obstructive sleep apnea suffers never get a good nights sleep, because repeated arousals deprive the patient of deep-sleep stage, leading to chronic daytime exhaustion and long-term risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

How Does Snoring Affect Our Sex Life?

Snoring can be fun. But only in the movies and in cartoons. In real life, it can ruin lives and destroy marriages/relationships. That's why it's no wonder why many researches have focused on this issue.

A recent study, commissioned by the hotel chain Travelodge, revealed that about 75% of the British adults are snorers, and 33% snore so badly that they disturb the sleep of their partner.

The research was made on a poll of 1,788 adult subjects, and revealed that 21% considered that snoring made them feel less sexual attractive in the bedroom. 10% stated that the embarrassment of snoring had impeded them to sleep with a new partner. 20% of the subjects said that snoring had a negative effect on their relationship.

"Modern lifestyles can be blamed for this increase in snoring, with boozing and unhealthy eating to blame. Our research shows that although snoring is often made fun of, it's a real problem that can have important effects on our wellbeing and lifestyle.

Apart from lack of sleep and tiredness, snoring can cause intimacy issues and put an unnecessary strain on relationships. But there are a number of things people can do to prevent and/or reduce snoring." said Chris Idzikowski, a sleep expert from Edinburgh Sleep Center.

Most often, snoring can be caused by decreased airflow to the nasal passages, so sleeping with your head raised off the mattress, or on your side or stomach can help. Starfish and soldier sleeping positions (on the back, with the arms pinned to your sides or around the pillow) turn people more prone to snoring.

Losing weight, and stopping alcohol consumption can also decrease snoring in some cases.

The survey even made a classification of 5 types of snorers:

*   The Snorter, 18% of the cases, is characterized by a specific rapid blowing of air through the nostrils and mouth, like the sound of a snorting horse.
*   The Snorchestra, 12% of the subjects emit long, low snores that gradually climb into a deafening crescendo.
*   The McEnroe type, 10% of the snorers, is characterized by violent grunting sounds, like the noise emitted by tennis stars when hitting the ball.
*   The Walrus, 8% of the snorers, will emit continuous groaning noises during sleep.
*   The Old Banger, 5% of the cases, emits noises similar to a broken car with a spluttering engine.

What Do Snoring And Allergies Have In Common?

Like most allergies, most people are not born with a snore; they simply acquire it over a period of time.

As we grow older, many develop the habit of sleeping with their mouths open. This allows the jaw to relax and drop excessively during sleep. As a result, the skin, tissue, and muscles in the throat are stretched beyond normal ranges for an extended time (several hours each night). It's important to take deliberate corrective action for this habit otherwise, you could be setting the stage for developing serious medical problems such as OSA, artery damage and stroke.

New estimates from The National Sleep Foundation suggest that 24% of adult men and 9% of adult women (approximately 1 billion people globally) are estimated to suffer from some degree of OSA.

OSA is among the most common and most dangerous types of sleep disorders. An estimated 16% of the global population have the condition, which is marked by repeated episodes of cessation of breathing during sleep that over time can lead to high blood pressure, cardiac disease, and disordered thinking.

The closing of the upper airway while sleeping causes OSA. The uvula and soft palate relax and collapse on the back wall of the upper airway. Then the tongue relaxes and falls backward, collapsing on the back wall of the upper airway.

The uvula and soft palate form a tight blockage, preventing any air from entering the lungs. The effort of the diaphragm, the chest and the abdomen only cause the blockage to seal tighter. In order to breathe, the person must arouse or awaken, causing tension in the tongue thereby opening the airway, allowing air to pass into the lungs.

The arousals usually offer hundreds of times each night, but they do not fully awaken the person who remains unaware of the loud snoring, choking, and gasping for air that are typically associated with OSA.

As a result, OSA sufferers never get a "good nights sleep" because repeated arousals deprive patients of REM (deep sleep stage) leading to chronic daytime exhaustion and long-term cardiovascular stress. People who are obese are likely to have OSA due to the excess tissue around the throat and neck. Those with receding chin lines are also at higher risk for developing obstructive sleep disorder.

"Virtually all heart attacks come down to a failure to deliver oxygen to the hardworking heart muscle,1" Philip Stavish, M.D. OSA causes a drop in blood oxygen saturation (SaO2) and an increase in the blood's carbon dioxide (CO2). When the SaO2 drops, the heart will start pumping more blood. With each beat, the SaO2 continues to drop and the heart beats faster and faster. As the CO2 increases the brain will try to drive the person to breathe. The effort and action of the abdomen and chest will increase. Eventually that action can become severe enough to cause an arousal, (but the arousal does not fully awaken the person) causing the person to "catch their breath," clearing the upper airway blockage and allowing the person to breathe. Then it happens all over again.

It is also important to remember that when the immune system is compromised by a lack of oxygen, we are more susceptible to opportunistic bacteria, viral, and parasitic infections and colds, as well as flu. Oxygen deprivation can also lead to life-threatening disease, such as cancer. Cancer and most other infections or

BE NATURAL - BE HEALTHY

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

With the increased awareness in the doctor and patient communities, a growing number of new OSA patients are expected to be identified in the next few years.

Researchers and clinicians have recognized OSA as one of the most common sleep disorders and with perhaps the greatest medical and social impact on society in terms of morbidity and mortality. The syndrome strikes all sexes and all races, ages, socioeconomic strata, and ethnic groups, though it is less common in women prior to menopause, and may be more common in blacks than in whites.

Czech Doctors to Treat Snoring with Magnets

A new surgical treatment of snoring and sleep apnea has been performed for the first time in the world by Czech doctors in the west Bohemian town of Domazlice. The method was developed by the American company Apneon, which chose the Czech doctor Vaclav Pavelec on the basis of his published specialist studies.

"Snoring itself can only be a social or a cosmetic problem. The worse situation occurs when there is a hidden problem behind snoring and that's apneas - blockages of the airways during the night that cause the decrease of the oxygen saturation in blood."

So that's when you need to treat it with some surgical methods.

"Up to now the treatment of choice was the so-called CPAD - continuous positive airway pressure - that's a ventilator that pushes the air into the airways during the night through a mask. But this treatment is of course not tolerated by quite a large amount of patients. That's why surgeons all around the world are trying to find something more acceptable for the patients and one of the ways is magnetic system."

How does it work?

"Basically we implant internal magnet into the tongue of the patient. When the patient is healed he comes for external fitting where we adjust the external magnet on the patient's chin. This external magnet drags the internal device forward and opens the airways behind the tongue. So it solves the reason of the blockages."

Doesn't it bother you when you have a magnet in your mouth for example when you eat with a spoon which is made of metal? Doesn't it stick to your tongue?

"That was the most important question for us at the beginning of the study of course. Fortunately we have operated five patients up to now and none of them suffers from these problems. They have no foreign body sensation. It doesn't interfere with any metal things including spoons."

And you only attach the outer magnet at night...

"Yes, exactly. One of the advantages of this method is that this device can be "switched off" when the person get up in the morning."

BE NATURAL - BE HEALTHY

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Eliminate Snoring - How to?

As innocent children armed with our trusty toolbox of crayons and markers, we often depicted a snoring person as someone lying in bed with a series of "Z's" casually emerging from a peacefully sleeping body.

However, what we neglected to draw - and again, rather innocently - was the severe underlying damage that was occurring in that ordinary picture.

The Damage is Far-Reaching

Damage to whom? Well, damage to at least one person, and potentially many more. Primarily, snoring has the very real potential of causing health damage to the snorer him or herself.

This damage can range from relatively mild sleep disturbances, to outright fatal Sleep Apnea (described further in this book). Indeed, when looked at under this light, those innocent Z's in our childhood drawings don't seem quite so harmless, anymore.

Yet is that where the suffering ends -- with the snorer? Hardly; and this is where the dilemma of snoring - and it is indeed a dilemma - takes on an added hue of suffering and misery.

To understand this in its painful clarity, let's return quickly to that childhood drawing of the sleeping person (usually a man) slumbering away after a hard day of work, possibly dreaming about something pleasant, as Z's floated up from his peaceful, sleeping body.

Now, how many of us took the time to draw the person trying to sleep next to that snoring partner? Hardly any of us, I would venture to presume, took the time to accurately depict the total anguish that the non-snoring partner of a snorer undergoes on a nightly basis.

But really, that's where a great deal of snoring-related suffering is contained: in the life of someone trying to live (and love!) a snorer. We'll take a deeper look at the tragic dilemma faced by these people later on in this article.

Snoring must be Solved! Eliminate Snoring now...

Of course, non snorers who have valiantly slept in the same bed, or even in the same house, as a chronic snorer know precisely how severe this problem is, and they don't require any convincing that snoring is a problem that requires a solution!

Yet there are some, perhaps, who haven't yet experienced the true violence of living with a snorer; and for those people, I humbly invite you to try sleeping with any of the following devices; all of which have been ranked as emitting the same or fewer decibels than the average snorer:

*   An operational lawn mower (and not the super-quiet luxury kind, either)

*   An industrial vacuum cleaner (the kind that picks up nails and glass!)

*   A running motorcycle (these things have no muffler, really, and you can hear them from blocks away!)

*   A passing jet (the kind that wakes up babies, scares cats, and sets off car alarms)

*   An operational chain saw (hopefully you haven't actually slept while one of these things are operating%u2026unless you were a horror movie actor)

*   A blender, food processor, or hair dryer (not one; all three at once!)

BE NATURAL - BE HEALTHY

How to stop snoring?

*    The little known reason (you've probably never thought about) why you only snore while asleep.
*    Warning: Don't let anyone talk you into surgery before you read this.
*    3 ways oral appliances will stop your snoring habit. What they are and where you can find them.
*    7 key categories your snoring remedy may fall under.
*    Why men snore louder than women. And why woman have an unfair advantage.
*    11 reasons to say no to surgery. Even if it does claim to fix your snoring problem.
*    Why some people snore louder than others.
*    10 anti-snore foods you can find at the supermarket. Stock up on these!
*    Sleep positions that can stop your snoring habit cold.
*    How the climate in your bedroom can effect your snoring.
*    How allergies (that you don't even know about) can be causing your snoring problem.
*    Reported problems that have come from 4 different types of surgery.
*    4 minor changes in your day to day life that can stop snoring where it starts.
*    9 down in the dumps emotions snoring may be causing you. Spot these before they make your life miserable.
*    How to exercise your throat before you slip into bed - and possibly put an end to your snoring habit.
*    7 common devices for stomping out your snoring problem that you can buy. Which ones work and why.
*    14 major health and lifestyle factors that may be causing you to snore.
*    9 reasons why snoring can be bad for your health. Even dangerous and sometimes fatal.
*    3 important functions of drug therapy and what they can do for your snoring problem.
*    3 ways snoring reveals itself. What are your symptoms?
*    When snoring can be a sign of something fatal - it doesn't get more serious than this. Possible damage: heart disease, stroke, or brain damage.
*    6 real-life emotionally damaging problems snoring may lead you to.
*    Why losing weight might do the trick.

Seventy-six percent of Americans are lacking something right now. No, it's not the latest fad fashion, electronic device or even money in the bank. It's sleep. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb so that people could work at night, and there are now 25 million night shift workers in U.S.-occupied territory.

Thanks to the light bulb and the later invention of television, sleep quantity (per person) has decreased by about 20 percent since 1900. Furthermore, 76 percent of Americans have a sleeping disorder at least a few days per week, contributing to our society's epidemic of daytime sleepiness, depression and adrenal fatigue, sleep therapist Dr. Rubin Naiman said in his lecture at the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Conference (CAMCON) in Tucson, Ariz.

Modern Western society doesn't comply with our natural biorhythms. Humans are built to nap, according to Dr. Naiman. When we override our natural desire for midday rest, the conflict carries over to sleep disturbances at night.

Furthermore, similar to the problem of our junk food-laden diets, we're overfed yet undernourished when it comes to light. During the day, we receive dampened light from fluorescent bulbs rather than the vitamin D-rich sunlight that our bodies need.

Then, during the night when we need the dark to trigger essential melatonin production, excessive light at night (LAN) erodes our "lunar consciousness" and throws our body rhythms out of balance. In short, we have too much light when we don't need it (at night) and too little when we do during the day).

Melatonin, a neurochemical released from the pineal gland, is as essential to the human body today as it was during our evolution. Accordingly, Dr. Naiman talks in great detail about this product of serotonin, even looking back into the ancient Greco-Roman perspective of it and sleep in general.

From a purely biological standpoint, melatonin, which is produced during absence of light, communicates the fact that it is night to our bodies, triggering the release of GABA, our bodies' natural tranquilizer. LAN suppresses melatonin production, hindering this entire process and setting the stage for a phenomenon many of us know all too well: Daytime sleepiness.

Even though we're tired during the day, rest is somewhat of a taboo topic in modern society. We tend to associate it with laziness and, as Dr. Naiman points out, "When we rest, we experience the opportunistic emergence of our shadow issues."

In other words, resting often gives us time to think about everything we'd rather forget, which is one of the reasons why many people don't like to rest. It's the common "I-don't-have-time-to-think" phenomenon.

Unfortunately, as adrenal fatigue expert Dr. James Wilson explains in his lecture at the First Arizona Choices Exposition in Tucson, Ariz., "Our lifestyles have changed, but our bodies haven't." We may not like to rest, or perhaps have time for it, but our bodies still desire it.

In fact, napping can provide amazing health benefits. It lowers diastolic blood pressure, improves mood, improves work and school performance (bosses and educators take note) and helps readjust our nighttime sleep patterns back to the way our ancestors slept before the Industrial Age and, according to some experts, the way our bodies were designed to sleep at night.

Historian A. Roger Ekirch of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute found that, before the Industrial Age changed everything, people slept in two phases: "First sleep," a period of being awake shortly after midnight, and "second sleep."

Using this historical data as his guide, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) psychiatrist Dr. Thomas A. Wehr set out to learn if the human body would revert back to this segmented sleep pattern, given natural, pre-Industrial conditions. In Dr. Wehr's study, 15 healthy adults were prohibited from using any artificial light from dusk to dawn and given 14 hours (6 p.m. to 8 a.m.) for sleep. They slept 11 hours each the first few nights to presumably catch up on lost sleep, but then eventually settled into a pattern beginning with a few hours of nighttime rest.

This nighttime rest is "an essential bridge to night consciousness," according to Dr. Naiman. We have to slow down before we can fall asleep and experience hypnagogia, a sleep-onset dream. Unfortunately, many of us don't take the time to pursue nighttime rest for psychological and sociological reasons.

After a few hours of nighttime rest, Dr. Wehr's volunteers then fell into REM asleep for three to five hours ("first sleep") before awakening. During REM sleep, the brain is as active as when it is awake. Due to this alertness without daytime constraints, regularly awakening from REM sleep is significant in itself, as it allows people to remember and reflect on their dreams in a semiconscious state, according to Dr. Wehr. In fact, he attributes modern society's disconnection with dreams, myths and fantasies to our lack of midnight reflection.

Following this hour or so of quiet time, the volunteers then slept for about four more hours before finally awakening. In conclusion, the NIMH study reinforced Ekirch's historical data, making it seem likely that the human body would naturally like to sleep as it did before artificial lighting, and that waking up midway through the night is innate, rather than a disease meant to be treated with sleeping pills.

Given that most of us are not getting the quality or quantity of sleep our bodies require, and that our schedules often don't allow time for naps, what are we supposed to do about our daytime sleepiness? Many of us turn to high-glycemic carbohydrates like white flour or refined sugar as the answer, putting our bodies at risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. We also mask our sleepiness with caffeine, making it what Dr. Naiman calls the "fuel of industrialized culture."

Three hundred million cups of coffee are consumed in the United States each day and it is the second-most commonly traded commodity in the world. Unfortunately, our misguided "solution" to daytime sleepiness only adds to the sleep disorders we experience at night, as caffeine's half-life is 7.5 hours, meaning that you still have half the amount of caffeine in your bloodstream more than seven hours after you drink or eat a caffeinated product. No wonder we can't fall asleep at night, or even get a "good night's sleep" when we do.

Lack of sleep eventually leads to fatigue, which is much more serious than everyday drowsiness. By Dr. Naiman's definition, fatigue is a "sustained state of exhaustion, a lack of physical or mental energy." As you might imagine, fatigue is all too common today, accounting for 10 million outpatient physician visits in the United States per year, mostly associated with depression. Ironically, Big Pharma's answers to depression, SSRI drugs, actually worsen the sleep-related problems they were designed to relieve. Pharmaceuticals like Prozac cause reduced REM latency, which actually promotes depression, Dr. Naiman explains.

The real solution to fatigue is easy enough: Make time to rest. Taking a break from time to time doesn't mean that you're lazy; it means that you want to be healthy. Plus, keep in mind that attaining healthy sleep will actually increase your overall productivity and your enjoyment of life.

BE NATURAL - BE HEALTHY

With insomnia, it all basically boils down to endocrine system imbalances. Sleep is a physiological function that is controlled by hormones, and these hormones are of course released by endocrine system glands according to a natural cycle. A person who is having trouble sleeping is merely experiencing a disruption in this natural cycle.

To answer this question, it is helpful to look at what promotes healthy sleep cycles in the first place. Perhaps the single most important influencing factor in setting these cycles is exposure to natural sunlight. In fact, simply getting natural sunlight during the day often corrects the problem outright. I know it sounds simple, but exposure to sunlight is fundamental to healthy sleep cycles.

A lot of this, of course, has to do with the production and suppression of melatonin, which is also called the sleep hormone. Melatonin levels normally rise at night, and peak during sleep. Once a person wakes up and goes outside to get natural sunlight exposure, melatonin levels are suppressed. This tells the body that daylight is here, and that we should be awake and alert during the day.

But when a person avoids sunlight -- if they have an office job and only get fluorescent light or other forms of artificial light during the day -- these melatonin levels are not suppressed during the day. They remain unnaturally high, and this tells the body that it may still be night. This is why a lot of people tend to feel drowsy during the day or have a lack of energy, and subsequently, they can't sleep at night either. It's all due to the unnaturally high levels of melatonin during the day which cause unnaturally low levels at night time as well.

So once again, the most effective strategy is to get sunlight --- to suppress those melatonin levels during the day and let them come back strong at night. If you live in a climate where you can't get a lot of natural sunlight, you can help yourself through the use of light boxes. However, light boxes are not a replacement for natural sunlight. In fact, nothing comes close to the intensity of light you receive from the sun. Even high-powered light boxes only provide a fraction of the light energy of natural sunlight. So make sure you get natural sunlight on your skin. And by the way, getting it through a window is not the same as getting it outdoors. Windows filter out ultraviolet light, so you have to expose your skin to direct sunlight.

(This is why many of the kings and queens in European history went mad, by the way: they wanted to keep their skin pale by avoiding sunlight. Nearly all royals were chronically deficient in vitamin D -- and that causes schizophrenia, depression, aggression and other mental disorders...)

There could be other problems causing insomnia as well. You might have low melatonin production. Maybe you're getting sunlight during the day, but at night your body isn't producing melatonin in the way that it should. A shortcut to solving this is to take melatonin supplements. These are available at health food stores or vitamin shops online.

Melatonin supplements should be taken an hour or so before bedtime, and they will typically help people sleep more soundly.

But understand this is just a stop-gap measure. If your body isn't producing melatonin, there's something imbalanced in your system, and you need to get back to the fundamentals of health in order to recreate an environment in which your body will naturally produce the required levels of melatonin that support healthy, sound sleep.

continuing from part 1

A reader asks, "Are there any foods, vitamins, herbs, etc, that can help with insomnia? I've had sleeping problems for years, and I would really appreciate any kind of useful information."

In part one of this Q&A, we talked about how lack of exposure to natural sunlight causes hormonal imbalances that result in chronic sleeping problems. In part 2, we're moving on to talk about the dietary influences of sleep disorders:

As far as the main imbalancers of hormones in the body, the primary culprits are dietary stimulants, or what I call metabolic disruptors. Perhaps the most frequently abused stimulant of all is coffee and caffeine. A person who is taking caffeine on a regular basis typically does so because they feel drowsy in the morning since they haven't had a good night's sleep in the first place. But by drinking coffee to wake up, a vicious cycle is created. The caffeine perks them up in the morning, but at the same time, it overstresses the adrenal glands and the endocrine system, which causes imbalances later on during the day, especially when used over a long period of time. So if you are a regular consumer of caffeine, you're going to find that your production of melatonin and other hormones is disrupted in the long term, even though caffeine may make you feel more awake in the morning.

The trick to all this is getting off caffeine permanently and never ingesting this neurotoxic substance ever again in your life. One of the best ways to do that is to pick up the book by Dr. Jonathan Wright called The New Detox Diet. This book teaches people how to get off caffeine and also informs them of some of the very good reasons why you need to stop poisoning your nervous system with this insecticide (caffeine is created by plants to kill insects).

There are other nervous system stimulants that tend to disrupt healthy function of the endocrine system. These include sugar and MSG (monosodium glutamate). MSG is something you have to look for on food labels because it's hidden in a lot of grocery store products. This is a highly toxic ingredient. It will not only cause sleep disorders, it will also tend to cause migraine headaches and can even lead to Alzheimer's disease. MSG does not belong in the human body. It can even interfere with normal appetite regulatory functions and make it almost impossible for people to lose weight, especially if they are currently obese. So MSG is one thing to avoid, and refined white sugars are another because of the way they overstress the pancreas and other organs involved in hormone regulation throughout the body.

Carbohydrate Cravings

An interesting side note to all of this is that if your insomnia is being caused by imbalanced melatonin levels, it is very likely that you are also suffering from carbohydrate cravings due to suppressed serotonin levels in the brain. When melatonin levels are too high in the brain, it naturally results in the suppression of serotonin. This makes a person feel down. They get the blues. They feel drowsy. And one of the quickest ways to self-medicate and raise the levels of serotonin in the brain is to eat carbohydrates (and the more refined the carbohydrates, the better). Refined white flour is going to perk up those serotonin levels very quickly. Drinking a soft drink will also do the same thing. And if that soft drink has caffeine in it, then a person is getting a double dose of medication through the caffeine and the high-fructose corn syrup contained in that beverage.

So I think you get a pretty clear picture here of how people can easily create a destructive cycle of dependence on psychoactive food ingredients and drugs like caffeine just to make it through the day, when typically the source of the problem is really something relatively simple, like lack of sunlight. If you are a person who is consuming caffeine on a regular basis, if you find yourself experiencing carbohydrate cravings, if you need sugar to elevate your mood, then these are signs that you need a fundamental detox in order to get back to the basic foods that support human health and will naturally create healthy hormone balance.

Once you do that, you will find yourself sleeping quite soundly. You will fall asleep easily, you will sleep restfully, and you will wake up fully energized without any need whatsoever for coffee in the morning. I know this from personal experience. Typically, I sleep 8 hours a night. I think long-duration sleep is very important, especially if you're involved in strength training or gymnastics or other forms of intense physical activity like I am. Eight hours of sleep is great for the human body, and when I wake up, I feel fully energized and ready to go, ready to take on the projects and challenges of the new day. I'm not a coffee drinker and I never have been. I don't consume caffeine, and I strongly urge those who are on caffeine to consider doing whatever it takes to get off that drug. It will make your life far easier in the long run.

Herbs For Sleep

One last comment on all of this --- the question posed at the beginning of this article asks if there are any vitamins or herbs that can help with insomnia. Of course there are herbs that can help you sleep. Those include chamomile, hops, or valerian root, but these are really just herbs being used like drugs. It's no different from taking Valium, which is in fact a derivative of the valerian medicinal herb.

If you're using drugs to get to sleep, then you have a serious problem. Drugs are not going to give you sound sleep. They are only a temporary mask for the root cause of the problem.

Remember, the human brain already creates the hormones or "drugs" that you need to get plenty of sleep. It does that naturally on its own. A healthy human being should never need to supplement human brain chemistry with outside drugs or pharmaceuticals in order to fall asleep.

I strongly encourage you to avoid the seduction of using herbs or drugs to get your sleep. Instead, take the more difficult journey: a journey of detoxing your diet, of taking a good, hard look at everything that's going on in your life, what foods you're putting into your body, what drugs or psychoactive substances you might be consuming, how much physical exercise you're getting, how much sunlight you're getting, how much water you're drinking on a regular basis, and so on. This is a difficult journey for a lot of people, but it is the only journey that can really cure insomnia.

At the same time, you'll be happy to know, the side effect of this journey is that it will also prevent practically every chronic disease known to mankind.

Remember, health is simple -- it's not necessarily easy to get to it, but it is fundamentally simple, and once you pursue that path in an effort to solve one particular problem, you will find that virtually all your health problems are helped at the same time.

BE NATURAL - BE HEALTHY

A sleep disorder characterized by violent dreams, often acted out while sleeping, may be more common in people taking antidepressants, new research suggests.

Although REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) typically occurs in patients in their 50s, doctors are noticing a trend of more frequent RBD in 30-something patients taking antidepressants.

During REM sleep, muscles are usually paralyzed, but antidepressants may affect neurotransmitters that keep muscles paralyzed -- allowing for RBD to occur, say researchers at the Mayo Clinic.

"Our findings suggest that RBD in younger patients -- in the 30s instead of the usual age of the 50s or older -- is frequently linked to antidepressant use," lead researcher Dr. R. Robert Auger, sleep medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic, said in a prepared statement.

But he cautioned that the findings can have multiple interpretations.

"I'd interpret this to mean one of three things: 1) in younger patients, antidepressants can cause RBD, or 2) in younger patients, RBD results in psychiatric diagnoses that then result in antidepressant prescriptions, or 3) a common factor is causing both the RBD and the psychiatric diagnoses, which in turn results in antidepressant prescriptions," Auger said.

"If medications are implicated in a direct manner, it may be an idiosyncratic effect, it could be related to the dose of the medication, or the medications simply may be unmasking an underlying predisposition to RBD," the Mayo expert added.

Researchers studied 20 patients under the age of 50 between 2002 and 2005 who had been diagnosed with RBD. Patients with neurological diseases such as Parkinson's or dementia were excluded from the study. These patients were compared to patients over age 50 diagnosed with RBD.

Eighty percent of the younger RBD patients were being prescribed antidepressants, the researchers noted, while only 15 percent of RBD patients in the older age group were taking antidepressants. Females also appear more likely to experience RBD at a younger age -- 45 percent of the younger patients were female, compared to just 13 percent of older patients.

Findings from the study were to be reported Monday at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies' SLEEP 2006 meeting in Salt Lake City.

"From the results of our study, it appears that young-onset RBD is frequently associated with antidepressants. It nevertheless appears to be a relatively rare phenomenon, so I don't think one should hesitate to take an antidepressant based on this particular risk," said Auger. "Physicians should be aware of this potential side effect, however, particularly in patients who complain of sleep disturbances. I'm hoping these findings will create a greater awareness, as practitioners generally would not link medications with RBD."

Counseling proven better than sleeping pills for chronic insomnia; drugs actually worsened condition

(NaturalNews) According to a new report in the Journal of American Medical Association, therapy is more effective than some sleeping pills for treatment of chronic insomnia in older adults.
Researchers from the University of Bergen in Norway assessed the quality and quantity of sleep for 46 people over the age of 55 who suffered from insomnia. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), zopiclone (a sleeping drug), or placebo. Participants received treatment for six weeks, and afterwards researchers tracked their progress for the next six months.

In the period following treatment, the CBT group increased the amount of time spent in bed actually sleeping from 81 percent at the beginning of the study, to 90 percent at the conclusion. Patients also increased the length of time spent in the deepest stages of sleep.

Zopiclone, sold under the trade name Imovane, actually worsened insomnia for most patients. During the study, sleep efficiency dropped from 82.3 percent to 81.9 percent for patients in the zopiclone group.

CBT is a method of counseling that stresses thinking and behavior modification. Each week, patients in the CBT group participated in 50-minute counseling sessions, learning about lifestyle factors that influence sleep. Participants were encouraged to stick to a strict sleep schedule and use progressive relaxation techniques, among other behavioral modifications.

Cognitive behavioral therapy appears more effective than sleep medication for treating insomnia

Patients with insomnia who implemented cognitive behavioral therapy interventions such as relaxation techniques had greater improvement in their sleep than patients who received the sleep medication zopiclone, according to a study in the June 28 issue of JAMA.
Insomnia is usually defined as subjective complaints of poor sleep accompanied by impairment in daytime function. It is common in people aged older than 55 years (9 percent-25 percent are affected) and is associated with reduced quality of life, depression, and more physician visits. Despite these links to individuals' lives and societal costs, most people with chronic insomnia-up to 85 percent-remain untreated, according to background information in the article. Two-thirds of individuals with insomnia report having poor knowledge of available treatment options, and as many as one fifth resort to either untested over-the-counter medications or alcohol in attempts to improve their condition. Among primary care physicians, the treatment of choice for insomnia has commonly been prescription medication. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most widely used psychological intervention for insomnia. No studies have compared the newer non-benzodiazepine sleep medications with nonpharmacological treatments.

Borge Sivertsen, Psy.D., of the University of Bergen, Norway, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial between January 2004 and December 2005 to compare the short- and long-term clinical efficacy of CBT and the non-benzodiazepine sleep medication zopiclone. The trial included 46 adults (average age 60.8 years; 22 women) with chronic primary insomnia. The participants received either the CBT intervention (information on sleep hygiene, sleep restriction, stimulus control, cognitive therapy, and progressive relaxation technique; n = 18), sleep medication (7.5 mg zopiclone each night; n = 16), or placebo medication (n = 12). All treatment duration was 6 weeks, and the 2 active treatments were followed up at 6 months. Clinical polysomnographic data and sleep diaries were used to determine total wake time, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and slow-wave sleep (only assessed using polysomnography [PSG; monitoring of physiological activity during sleep]).

BE NATURAL - BE HEALTHY

A snoring disorder is a very common health problems among Americans, although many of those affected by it may not even be aware of it. Sleep is an important part of everyday life, but many people do not get enough of it as they should due to overly busy schedule and too many obligations.

However, lack of sleep can cause problems because it can strain relationships, result in lower job productivity, and affect general health. Snoring is one of the common factors affecting sleep, but it is not an untreatable condition. In most cases, it is very easy to deal with a snoring disorder without resorting to more drastic treatment options.

Snoring Disorder Dangers

A snoring disorder can be both irritating and dangerous, depending on how severe it is. Snoring is essentially caused by vibrations in the breathing passages, which are usually a result of an airway that becomes restricted in some way. In some cases, the tongue can partially or completely block the airway, while in others the airway can just be naturally restricted as a result of allergies, excess weight, the effects of cigarettes, etc. Snoring is often times the main problem in itself, but in some instances the snoring disorder is only a symptom of a bigger problem like sleep apnea. It is important to determine the probable cause for snoring before attempting any serious treatment options because the disorder could be corrected with small lifestyle modifications.

The most common complaint about a snoring disorder is that it affects or interrupts the sleep of roommates or bed partners. Many snorers do not realize that they snore because they do not hear the sounds they make, but other people nearby can be very aware of the disturbance.

However, even though those who snore may not be conscious of the sleep interruption, their sleep is often affected, resulting in persistent fatigue and difficulty awaking in the morning. These effects are what make snoring a dangerous disorder because when fatigue continues day after day, people can fall asleep at dangerous times, such as when driving, operating machinery, etc. This lack of energy can also result in poor job performance and in severe cases cause people to even lose their jobs.

Although snoring is a condition that should not be ignored, in many cases there are simple ways to help correct the problem. People who smoke or who are overweight should stop smoking and lose weight because these changes often help open up airways and facilitate better airflow. Alcohol consumed late at night can also close airways, so snorers should take care to limit their alcohol consumption close to bedtime.

If you are a chronic snorer, you might want to consider looking into a snoring appliance. Snoring appliances range from only a few to several hundred dollars and are certainly cheaper, easier, and less invasive than surgery to correct the problem. Even more amazing is that several of these products actually seem to work!

In the next few paragraphs, you will find out about the four most commonly used snoring appliances, as well as tips on what to do in case none of these techniques work. Keep reading!

What to Expect from a Snoring Appliance

Most people do not know what to expect from a snoring appliance; they think that whatever method they choose will clear their problem almost instantly. Then, when this instant gratification is delayed, they become frustrated and stop trying. Try to remember that, regardless of which product you choose, snoring will probably not completely cease during the first night.

The two most common forms of snoring appliances are nasal strips and throat sprays. Both advertise the ability to open up the nasal passages, making it easier for air to pass through. If these over-the-counter methods do not work, hwoever, consider taking a trip to you dentist, who probably sells snoring appliances that fit into the mouth like a retainer, serving to keep the lower jaw jutted slightly forward.

If none of these methods work for you or if you think you might be suffering from sleep apnea, consult a qualified health care professional immediately. He or she may tell you that your snoring is not dangerous and simply offer you an optional surgery. On the other hand, however, sleep apnea can be very dangerous and frequently leads to death from heart attack or stroke.

If snoring is tremendously affecting the quality of your life, consider joining a support group either online or in your community. This will give you a place to speak with others who are going through similar structures and listen to the methods that worked and didn't work for them.

Finally, take into consideration that it is not "wrong" or "bad" to sleep in a different bedroom than your spouse. If her or his quality of sleep is deteriorating along with yours, you might want to just consider making time for intimate moments before you go to sleep as opposed to making him or her suffer needlessly through the noise.

Good luck in your journey towards silent nights with the aid of a snoring appliance!

Many children snore. In fact, it is estimated that between 3% and 12% of preschool age children snore. The majority of these children are well, without other symptoms, and have primary snoring.

Other children that snore, about 2% by some estimates, have obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), a condition that is being increasing recognized as leading to school and behavior problems in children.

A recent guideline from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Diagnosis and Management of Childhood Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, should help Pediatricians more readily recognize, diagnosis and treat children with OSAS.

How do you know if your child is just a normal snorer or if he has obstructive sleep apnea? Children who snore and do not have OSAS should be otherwise well, without daytime sleepiness and they should have normal sleep patterns. In contrast to normal primary snoring, children with OSAS usually have disrupted sleep with short 'pauses, snorts, or gasps' in their sleep. Children with OSAS may also have behavioral problems, a short attention span and problems at school.

Other signs or symptoms might include:
large tonsils and/or adenoids with frequent mouth breathing, hyponasal speech and nasal obstruction
poor weight gain
being overweight
high blood pressure

Testing can be done if it is suspected that your child has OSAS, including an overnight sleep study (nocturnal polysomnography). Unfortunately, it may be hard to find a hospital or central that does pediatric sleep studies unless you live in a large metropolitan area.

Other testing may include audiotaping or videotaping your child's sleep, although you would likely need a specialist to interpret the tapes, use of overnight pulse oximetry to measure oxygen levels while he sleeps, or just performing a sleep study during a day time nap. These other tests have been shown to be useful if they do show OSAS, but a child may still have OSAS if these tests are normal, so further testing may need to be done if the testing is normal but it is still suspected that your child has sleep apnea.

Once it is deter