Quality Sleep

[BuddyLeesWife]

My husband is doing great with the CPAP treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. It is really helping with the fatigue and also the brain fog. He is READING again - he loves history but hasn't really been reading for the past few years. He has already completed several books in the past 2 months.

I know this is a common topic and I recall the comment that it isn't well studied for autonomic issues. I found a couple of recent articles - one related to MG and another to GERD. The third article I included is a newer overview on recognizing sleep disorders (note the 15 second wake to sleep statement). I use the Medscape advanced search function (www.medscape.com) and if you type in "autonomic and sleep apnea" starting with January of 2006 to the present you get 156 results (I always sort by publish date to get the newest stuff first). You still need to sift through them as many are not relevant.

I hope you find these helpful -

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Prevalent in Myasthenia Gravis: Study

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/541366

The estimated prevalence of OSA in the general population is 15% to 20% and the prevalence of OSA syndrome (OSA plus excessive daytime sleepiness) is 3%, note Dr. Michael W. Nicolle from the University of Western Ontario, London, and colleagues in the July 11th issue of Neurology.

In their cross-sectional analysis of 100 patients with myasthenia gravis, the prevalence of OSA on polysomnography was 36% and the prevalence of OSA syndrome was 11%.

Consequences of Nighttime Heartburn -- Quality of Life and Sleep Disturbances

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/537219

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

GER is a symptom commonly observed in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and patients with both GER and OSA have been shown to have significantly poorer quality of life compared with patients with OSA alone.[9] It is clinically well established that OSA is associated with a profound degree of daytime sleepiness, depression, and irritability -- all of which are factors that weigh heavily in diminishing the quality of life. GER exacerbates to an even greater degree the quality of life in this patient population (ie, those with sleep disorders).

Basics in Clinical Practice: Recognizing and Treating Sleep Disorders CME/CE

Author: Mark T. O'Hollaren, MD

http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/5967

Dr. Dement noted that daytime sleepiness usually indicates that an individual is carrying a large sleep debt, and that a severely sleep-deprived person can go from wide awake to asleep in as little as 15 seconds.