Sleep Apnea: Alternative Treatments
It is said that close to one-third of our life is spent asleep. Many cultures insist that good sleep is vital to a healthy lifestyle, proper body function, and mental stability. One of the most torturous situations one can encounter is to find themselves not being able to sleep when tired. Unfortunately this is the case for many people all around the world who suffer from insomnia and sleeping disorders. In this issue we will be exploring one of these disorders. One that is becoming more and more common today, sleep apnea. According to the National Institute of Health over 12 million Americans have been diagnosed with this sleep disorder.
Sleep apnea is a Greek term, "a" meaning "no" and "pnea" meaning "sleep" translating to without sleep. Sleep apnea is separated into three different categories by the modern medical system: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), central sleep apnea (CSA) and Mixed Sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of sleep apnea and defines the disorder in which there is a blockage of the airway during sleep. The soft-tissue at the rear of the throat collapses and closes. According to many researchers OSA is at root a neurological condition, in which nerves that control the tongue and soft palate fail to sufficiently stimulate those muscles, leading to over-relaxation and airway blockages. The brain is forced to continuously arouse the person during sleep to resume breathing.
An individual stops breathing anywhere from ten seconds to three minutes sometimes up to fifteen times an hour.
OSA is extremely common with the numbers of those affected in the US approaching that of those who suffer from adult diabetes. Some common symptoms of OSA are loud snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, episodes of not breathing, tossing and turning during sleep, night time choking spells, sweating, chest pain, problems with memory and concentration, irritable and tired feeling, personality changes, morning headaches, heartburn, sour taste in the mouth at night. Some symptoms seen mostly in obese adults with OSA are: swelling of legs, getting up during the night to urinate, daytime naps, sleeping during inappropriate times, depression, unexplained weight gain.
Central sleep apnea is caused by "medical conditions" that prohibit the brain from functioning properly in regard to sending signals to various parts of the body that control breathing rhythm. A form of central sleep apnea known as Ondine's curse is when a person breathes normally while awake but when sleeping breathes inadequately if at all. Central Sleep Apnea is far less common than OSA however in some cases western medicine's treatment for OSA has led to CSA symptoms. Some medical conditions that can prohibit the brain from functioning properly in regard to maintaining breathing rhythm are: Lou Gehrig's disease, muscular dystrophy, brain tumors, stroke, injury to spinal cord, visiting and sleeping in areas of high altitude, especially when not used to it and down syndrome.
Symptoms of central sleep apnea are: a short cessation of breathing, especially during sleep, from a few times a night to hundreds of times; frequent awakenings, excessive daytime sleepiness, difficulty swallowing, voice changes or body weakness or numbness, this may indicate an underlying disease that is affecting the nervous system. Though snoring is a very common sign for those with OSA it is uncommon for those with CSA. Mixed sleep apnea is not really a category on its own, it is when both OSA and CSA can be seen in the patient.
Risk Factors
There are many risk factors that the medical system has theorized for Sleep Apnea: obesity, excessive fat in the neck and throat, age over forty, male gender, irregular sleeping hours, anatomical anomalies that narrow airways, snoring, enlarged, tonsils or adenoids , use of alcohol, sedatives before bed, smoking or second hand smoke, nasal congestion, blockages, irritants, genetics, and a family history of sleep apnea.
As one can imagine the effects of sleep apnea like any sleeping disorder that doesn't allow the individual proper sleep, can be devastating. Sleep is a pillar of good health and body regeneration. When sleep is compromised our mental functions including our ability to learn, remember, and concentrate are also compromised. It affects mood and leads to emotional problems, depression and other mental issues altering reality such as hallucinations. According to the Medical System in the case of sleep apnea there are some added dangers when left untreated such as: hypertension, cardiovascular disease, memory problems, heart attacks, stroke, muscle pain, fibromyalgia, weight gain, impotency, headaches, job impairment, and motor vehicle crashes.
Diagnosis
The medical system has a difficult time in diagnosing sleep apnea. Doctors will perform exams of the mouth and nose to look for obstructions. They will perform an endoscopy on the neck and throat. An endoscopy is when a flexible tubular camera is put in a body orifice so that they can see the tissues inside the body. They also may perform an x-ray of the head and neck. Both of these diagnosis methods may have side effects. In many endoscopy procedures the physician will use a dye to raise the visibility of the area he is examining, most of the dyes are a substance of iodine and people with shellfish allergies will have a reaction to the iodine. The iodine substance is also harmful to the kidneys, so patients with either shellfish allergies or kidney problems should question their physician before allowing this procedure.
Being that it is an illness that shows its signs while the patient is sleeping. Therefore the physician will more than likely ask for a polysomnography, an overnight sleep study in the clinic in order to monitor sleeping habits and patterns such as: electrical activity of the brain, eye movement, muscles movement, heart rate, respiratory effort, air flow, and blood oxygen levels during sleep.
An unprofessional-home diagnosis may also be utilized. Administered by a family member or sleeping partner who will observe one during sleep to watch for signs of sleep apnea discussed above such as times of halted breathing, times of restlessness, etc. Though unprofessional this can be very helpful as a first step, it can assist a physician and give one's sleeping partner who is probably tortured by the loud snoring and frequent gasps or choking for air throughout the night a chance to effectively use their wakeful hours to be of assistance for remedying the issue, rather than just suffering in their frustrations.
Treatment
The medical system's treatment of sleep apnea is still rather primitive. The primary treatments are hooking the patient up to a machine and a surgery that removes a large part of the patient's throat. There are also a few treatments and lifestyle recommendations effectively used in less severe cases such as:
Over The Counter Saline Sprays - These help moisten mucous membranes and make breathing easier. A homemade version can also be made by mixing ½ tsp of salt (1/3 tsp in the case of people with hypertension) with 8 oz of warm water and sniffing through the nose and spitting out of the mouth.
Lose Weight - Fat deposits particularly in men are at the base of the tongue. Extra fatty tissues block an already clogged air passage, making breathing more difficult.
No Drinking - Drinking alcohol in the evenings or using sedatives to promote sleep can contribute to relaxing the muscles in the upper airways. The more "relaxed" those muscles the more likely it is for them to collapse and cause sleep apnea. The pair of drinking coffee or stimulants in the morning and sedatives or alcohol (a central nervous system depressant) at night compounds this issue.
Allergenic Foods - Individuals with food allergies should hone the discipline to stay away from them. Allergenic foods contribute to congestion, which leads to impaired breathing.
Smoking - Smoking irritates the upper respiratory tract and can cause inflammation.
Midnight Snacks -Digestion of particultar foods can increase congestion of the lungs and nasal passages.
Didjeridoo - According to Swiss researchers picking up the didjieridoo has been shown to stimulate and strengthen the muscles that collapse in OSA, and therefore is an effective treatment.
Side Sleeping - Sleeping on one's side instead of one's back, minimizes gravities affect on the collapse of the soft palate.
Treatments for severe cases are as follows:
CPAP - Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Machine - The CPAP is the most common treatment used with sleep apnea. It does not get rid of the issue but it allows the individual to sleep through the night and get a more effective, deeper sleep. The patient wears a mask that goes over his nose during sleep. It is connected by a tube to a machine that blows air into the throat at a pressure level that is set for you by your physician. It keeps the throat open while you sleep. Air pressure is adjusted so that it is just enough to stop the airways from briefly getting too small for adequate breathing. There are few side effects that have been experienced with the CPAP, aside from having to wear a bulky mask connected to machine while sleeping they include: dry or stuffy nose, irritation of the skin on face, bloating of stomach, sore eyes, headaches, sinus trouble and balding in the places of impact by the machine.
Mouthpiece - In patients dealing with OSA who also snore extremely loud doctors recommend a mouthpiece that is custom shaped to the patients jaw structure. The side effects of this have been: damage to teeth, gums and jaws.
Surgery - There are a few different surgeries available to help with sleep apnea. Like most surgeries they can be effective in dealing with the situation at hand but can result in more situations that are irreversible depending on what section of the body is cut out or damaged by the surgery. In the ignorance of the infancy of the modern medical system there are many body parts that the modern medical system does not see useful for the body and are removed without a second thought, however in older traditions of medicine around the world the function and necessity of these body parts are known and valued.The surgeries for sleep apnea are rebuilding the lower jaw, surgery on the nose, surgery to treat obesity as well as those that follow:
Tonsil Removal - The medical system recommends removing the tonsils and adenoids of children as a preventative measure against sleep apnea. This is especially the case with children who have tonsils larger than average, in those cases they are seen as a threat in blocking the airways.
Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty - in this procedure the tonsils, uvula (tissue that hangs from the middle of the back of the roo of the mouth) and part of the soft palate (roof of mouth in back of the throat) are removed.
Laser - assisted uvulopapatoplasty surgery that can stop snoring but not useful for sleep apnea.
Tracheostomy - A small tube is made in the windpipe and a tube is inserted. Air flows through tubes and into lungs. Very successful, but needed only in patients not responding to other treatments.
Chinese Medicine
Chinese wisdom acknowledges that the upper airway region (nose, mouth, and throat above the larynx) is collapsible. This enables us to talk and swallow. More than thirty pairs of muscles control the degree of openness of the airway in a process of balancing the natural tendency to collapse with the need to maintain an open airway. Snoring occurs when these relaxed tissues vibrate with airflow. Certain structural abnormalities - obesity can disrupt this balance in the direction of more easy obstruction of the airway and hence more noisy breathing.
As with most sleeping disorders, sleep apnea stems from either a deficiency in qi or from a surplus of qi in body organs, mainly in the kidneys and heart.
In an article by Xiao Quan-cheng concerning sleep apnea he gives three causes for snoring:
An external contraction of wind warm heat evils.
Liver-Lung fire exuberance with recurrent contraction of wind cold.
Internal damage due to medications, diet or taxation fatigue.
He said that wind warms heat evils may congest and obstruct the (qi) mechanism and the orifices. Therefore, there is a failure in the transportation of yin fluids which collect and inhibit the free flow of the throat. Secondly, if liver-lung fire exuberance is checked or blocked by wind cold, then internal and external evils may join together to block the throat and nose. Third, internal damage may lead to yang vacuity weakness which may also lead to failure to move and transform yin fluids. If these fluids collect and transform into phlegm, this phlegm may lodge in the throat and block its free flow.
According to Cui Hong the main cause of Sleep Apnea is spleen vacuity not moving and transforming and transforming properly. This leads to phlegm, stasis, and inhibition of the 4! mechanism. Therefore, Cui and his colleagues talk about a root vacuity and tip or branch repletions. It its early stages, Cui says there is a spleen - lung vacuity or a lung - kidney qi vacuity, while in the later stages, the lungs, spleen and kidneys are all vacuous.
Shi Yuan - Tao emphasizes being overweight and smoking and drinking as being the causes of phlegm dampness, qi stagnation, and blood stasis. He says, 'Fat people have a lot of phlegm and dampness."
Yan Feng Shan emphasizes phlegm and heat mutually binding and causing depression and obstruction of the qi passageways.
Chinese Herbs that are useful with snoring and sleep apnea are:
Fructus Arctii - It is used to expel wind and heat, eliminate the phlegm, ease throat and clear away toxic materials.
Radix Cynanchi Atrati - It is used to release evil factors from body surface, Helps with yin-deficiency.
Cadix Glycyrrhizae - It invigorates vital energy, clears away heat and toxic material, eliminates phlegm.
Radix Boehmeriae - It is useful for snoring and sleep apnea.
Radix Aucklandiae - It disperses stagnated liver energy, regulates stomach, activates vital energy circulation. Used for stagnation of spleen energy and stomach energy.
Herba Schizonepetae - This herb soothes the throat, expels exogenous evils.
Caulis Bambusae in Taeniam - It clears away lung heat to eliminate phlegm, clears away heart-fire, phlegm-heat syndrome involving the heart.
Rhizoma Polygonati - This herb nourishes yin and moisturizes the lungs. It is used for yin and vital energy deficiency of spleen and stomach.
Gypsum Fibrosum - It clears away heat and purges fire. Used for hyperactivity of stomach-fire with headache, swelling and pain of gum, lung-heat syndrome with high fever and thirst, and clearing away heat and astringe.
Another herbal mixture that has been effective in treating sleep apnea under the same mode of thought as those above is to treat the snoring thus the OSA will also be treated, is a product called Snoreless. This is an herbal mixture of Leonurus Japonicus Houtt, Ligusticun Chaunxiong Hort, Platycodon grandiflorus, Glycyrrhiza urulensis fish, Boswellia carterii Birdw, and Mentha canadeensis. It is capsulated, however it is most effect when taken traditionally which is opening three capsules and mixing them with a little bit of water in a spoon and holding it in the mouth for 5-10 minutes.
Traditional Kemetic Healing
According to traditional Kemetic healing sleep apnea is when a person stops breathing for periods at a time during sleep. However, it cannot be seen in itself as an illness it is more the result of a body constitution. Many individuals have periods of time during sleep when their breathing slows down or stops, this happens for those whose brain is more exposed to the path of air going towards the lungs. This is the body's way of regulating the oxygen in the blood.
In traditional Kemetic healing it is understood that health lies in a balance of forces. Any push towards extremes is what destroys life. For example lack of air destroys life through suffocation, but too much air destroys life through oxidation.
Therefore when an individual is inactive the lungs fill with mucus in order to regulate the amount of air that the lungs take in. This is why when exercising after long periods of inactivity an individual will cough up a lot of mucus in order to allow the body more surface area of the lungs to oxygenate the blood.
Sleep is a time of extreme inactivity and so the air that is taken in for the blood must be regulated. So many people will stop breathing for periods at a time during sleep, however, most do this and resume breathing with no problems and with no disruptions to sleep. Any citizen of the United States knows that there are many distractions in modern life and that day to day living can become very stressful. Stress and emotional instability have a huge influence on our health and our bodies. According to Kemetic Master Healer Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, "A brain that is stressed malfunctions during sleep. It is that incapability of the brain to relax and let the normal functions of the body take over that is the real problem of sleep apnea."
This points to why sleep apnea is affecting people in the US more and more. It also causes one to wonder, if sleep apnea is due mainly to stress and the brain's inability to relax during sleep, what harm might be caused by the common practice of western medicine of creating a hysteria in regards to the presumed dangers to those who suffer from it, or exhibit risk factors. Logically this would only cause more stress to the brain. The modern medical system uses fear to motivate us into procedures and treatments that they wish for us. Master Naba says, "to say sleep apnea causes hypertension, depression, stroke, mental illness, etc. is a speculation. There are many things and attitudes in the modern life style that will cause these illnesses."
Anyone who has had battles with insomnia, another sleep disorder that is also stress related, notices the effects on sleep when the brain cannot fully relax. Many people stay up at night unable to clear their brain of the worries and stresses of their day. Ankhkasta Natural Healing, an international branch of The Earth Center has herbs for sleep apnea, stress and depression, as well as insomnia. Contact your nearest Earth Center for more details.
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