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Ask Dr. Park: Women’s Sleep Issues

In this Ask Dr. Park teleseminar, I talk about common sleep problems that occur in women: insomnia, prementrual issues, pregnancy, and menopause.

Some of the questions I answer include:

- Why are women light sleepers?

- How is sleep different in women compared to men?

- How can I go back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night?

- Will estrogen supplements help with sleep?

- What’s the difference between bio-identical and synthetic hormones and how do they affect sleep?

- How does estrogen dominance cause sleep problems?

- What causes throat pain just before your periods?

- How can hypertension and diabetes be prevented during pregnancy?

- Which hormone is responsible for sleep problems during menopause?

- And much more….

 

Purchase MP3 recording ($17)

PDF of slides (free)

 

 

 

 

Do Sleeping Pills Increase Your Risk Of Dying?

Here’s a stunning statistic: A prescription for just a few sleeping pills per year was associated with a 3.6 times increased risk of dying (from any cause) compared to those who didn’t have any prescriptions for these medications. It jumped to 5.32 if more than 152 doses per year were prescribed. The authors of this British Medical Journal article estimate that in 2010, hypnotics may have been associated with 320,000 to 507,000 excess deaths in the US alone. They came to this conclusion by combing through more than 10,000 records of people who were prescribed at least one prescription for a hypnotic and looked at mortality over 4 years compared to matched controls who didn’t have a hypnotic prescription. 

They were careful to note that association does not imply causality. While it’s temping to interpret this study implying that sleeping pills can kill people, it’s important to realize that there are numerous studies showing that people with sleep problems are known to have a higher risk of dying from various reasons. For example, people with insomnia have higher rates of depression, suicide, and cancer. In addition, a significant number of insomniacs on sleeping pills will have obstructive sleep apnea, and untreated obstructive sleep apnea can increase your risk of car accidents, heart attack and stroke. 

It’s likely that increased risk of dying is already elevated in people with sleep problems, and those that are given sleeping pills are found to have increased rates of death. This may be the classic case of being true, true, but unrelated. To really determine what causes what, you’ll have to look at mortality in a large prospective study in people with insomnia and randomize to be given sleeping pills versus a placebo. 

Expert Interview: Expert Help For Your CPAP Problems with Nicole Garrison of Philips Respironics

This month, I interview Ms. Nicole Garrison, Clinical Specialist for Philips Respironics, to answer your questions about your most common CPAP problems. She answers the following questions:

#1.  What can I do about skin irritation/breakdown on my nose/face?

#2. How can I stop the pressure leaks, & are there options for mask discomfort?

#3.  I feel like I cannot exhale against the pressure, what can I do?

#4. Do I have any options if I cannot tolerate the pressure during inhalation and exhalation?

#5.  Why am I waking up with my mask off next to me?

#6.  What can I do about dryness/dry mouth?

#7. What if I do not feel better, even with wearing CPAP every night?

And many more…

 

Topic: Expert Help For Your CPAP Problems with Nicole Garrison of Philips Respironics

 

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How Many Hours Should Your Child Sleep Every Night?

How many hours should your child be sleeping? A new study found that opinions vary significantly amongst sleep experts, but the bottom line is that we’ve been saying for over 100 years that children need to sleep more. Unfortunately, the media has put a spin on this research, concluding that you should “never trust sleep experts.”

While it is true that we’ve been saying children need more sleep for years, critics are saying that there’s no evidence that children actually need more sleep. I beg to differ. It’s been reported that teens in one competitive high school sleeps an average 5-6 hours per night. We know from hundreds of studies that eve 1-2 hours of chronic sleep deprivation leads to significant declines in cognitive and behavioral measures. Adults need about 7-8 hours per night. Teens need about 8 to 9 hours per night, school-aged children, 10-11, and 3-6 year olds, anywhere from 10-12.

I know from personal experience that some of my 9 year old son’s classmates get 6-7 hours per night. I even blogged about seeing parents bring their preschool children with them to see a movie that ended at midnight. Granted everyone has different sleep needs, but if you’re saying a child can function normally on 3-5 hours of regular sleep deprivation every night, you’re fooling yourself. If your child is functioning normally, it’s more likely that he or she is being medicated with stimulants.

What’s more important than the number of hours you sleep is the quality of your sleep. Even if your child is able to sleep 10 hours per night, if she stops breathing even 1-5 times per hour, then by definition, it’s going to cause problems, whether it manifests in physical, emotional, or behavioral ways. What’s worse is if you don’t sleep efficiently, and you sleep less than you should, it’s a double whammy. We know that chronic sleep deprivation can also increase cravings for fatty, sugary foods, and promote weight gain. Sleep length has been directly linked to weight in children. No wonder there’s also an obesity epidemic in children these days.

How long do your children sleep? How much longer should they be sleeping?

How Finger Foods for Babies Can Prevent Obesity

Modern life leads to a number of unexpected consequences. Here’s an interesting study showing that infants that are weaned from liquid diets to finger foods rather than being spoon-fed pureé diets are much less likely to be obese later in life. In spite of the fact that infants in the spoon-fed group were offered more fruits, carbohydrates, vegetables and proteins, they wound up preferring  sweets more than the self-fed children. 

The most likely explanation is that early mechanical stimulation of the gums and teeth leads to more optimal dental and jaw development. This goes along with Dr. Corrucinni’s work showing that eating softer foods is associated with a higher risk of malocclusion and dental crowding. Dental crowding, by definition, increases your risk of obstructive sleep apnea by crowding your breathing passageways. Bottle-feeding can also aggravate dental crowding as well. 

How Sleep Apnea Can Lower Sperm Counts

Here’s an interesting article from 2004 showing how sperm counts in men living in Western industrialized countries are rapidly declining. In 1950, the average sperm count was 100 million sperm pr mL. in 1970, 75 million and in 1990, 50 million. Anything under 20 million is considered infertile. 

We know that untreated obstructive sleep apnea can suppress reproductive hormones. External artificial hormones such as the xenoestrogens that mimic estrogen can also aggravated this problem. I’ve written extensively in the past about fertility issues in women in the past and how undiagnosed  sleep-breathing problems can be a major aggravating factor. No wonder there are so many couples having trouble conceiving. 

Ask Dr. Park: Cutting Edge Surgical Options for Sleep Apnea

This month, I talk about the latest in surgical treatment options for obstructive sleep apnea:

– How to find the right surgeon

– The most common misconception about sleep apnea surgery

– Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: What you must know

– What is surgical success?

– Pros and cons of surgery

– Information about tongue base procedures: genioglossus advancement, hyoid suspension, Repose suture suspension, Coblation tongue reduction, Robotic surgery, hypoglossal nerve stimulation, maxillo-mandibular advancement, tracheotomy.

– And much more….

 

Click here to order the MP3 recording ($17)

 

 

 

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How Infections Can Raise Stroke Risk In Children

Here’s an article showing that children who suffer from stoke had some sort of infection in the days leading up the event. Researchers from UCSF found that 29% of children who suffered a stroke had an infection within 2 days of the stroke, whereas only 1% had infections in the control group.

It’s likely that if you already have narrowed breathing passageways, any additional inflammation and swelling will cause even more narrowing, leading to more severe episodes of snoring or apneas. We know that obstructive sleep apnea can significantly increase your risk of stroke. Furthermore, blood in patients with obstructive sleep apnea is found to be much thicker and more prone to clotting. 

I’m willing to bet that these children already had some sort of sleep-breathing problem, and the infection tipped them over the edge. Oftentimes, you’ll see large tonsils or adenoids, dental crowding, a high arched hard palate, nasal congestion, and an inability to sleep on their backs. Parents of these children are more likely to snore in this scenario.

Fortunately, this condition is rare (5/100,000), but the consequences can be devastating. This is why it’s important to pick up and address any underlying sleep-breathing issues before complications arise.

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