10 Different Sleep Apnea Surgeries Video

This animation quickly goes through 10 different surgical techniques to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA): 1) Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy , 2) UPPP , 3) Modified UPPP, 4) Expansion Sphincter Pharyngoplasty, 5) Lateral Pharyngoplasty, 6) Lingual Tonsillectomy, 7) Midline Partial Glossectomy, 8) Submucosal Base of Tongue Reduction , 9) Thyrohyoid Approximation, and 10) INSPIRE device. There are many different surgeries to treat OSA given the many different anatomies and causes for sle…

12/12/2019 0

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Potential Increased Long-Term Risk of Diseases with Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

The New York Times published a story on June 7, 2018 publicizing a Danish 2018 study that suggested that children under 9 years old undergoing tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy  are at increased long-term risk of respiratory, infectious, and allergic diseases. (Adults undergoing this surgery were not investigated.) All prior studies  evaluating for any adverse affects from surgical intervention looked more at any unusual immunological changes after surgery; these studies did not show a…

6/09/2018 0

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Mouth Taping to Treat Snoring and Dry Mouth

A patient brought to my attention a Buteyko breathing method that involves taping the mouth shut before going to sleep to prevent mouth-opening and mouth-breathing. By preventing the mouth from opening while sleeping, it can prevent the mouth from drying out as well as decrease not only snoring intensity but also reduce  sleep apnea severity. This technique of mouth taping does work based on small studies. A  2015 study  found that snoring and sleep apnea scores improved significantly wi…

5/25/2016 1

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Removal of "Small" Tonsils Can Still Significantly Improve/Cure OSA

At least in kids... A Johns Hopkins study published in May 2015 suggests that tonsil size does NOT appear to correlate with  obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)  severity and degree of response to T&A surgery . Regardless of the tonsil size even if they are small, improvement in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs based on pre- and post-operative sleep studies. These findings seem counter-intuitive since one would think that the larger the tonsils, the more severe the OSA and the grea…

5/07/2015 0

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Elbowed by Your Spouse While Sleeping? You May Have Sleep Apnea!

Canadian researchers have determined that if a patient answers in the affirmative to two questions: 1) Do you get elbowed/poked while sleeping for snoring? 2) Do you get elbowed/poked while sleeping for stopping breathing? There is a significant chance that the patient may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with AHI score  more than 5. This quiz has been dubbed the "Elbow Test". Actual diagnosis for OSA is by sleep study . Should OSA be actually diagnosed on a sleep s…

10/30/2012 0

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The "Morning Person" Gene

German scientists have potentially discovered a genetic reason why some people are morning people whereas others are night-owls. The gene called ABCC9 dubbed "morning person" gene was identified by analyzing 4251 individuals who reported their sleeping pattern. The ABCC9 variant type and number of copies significantly affected the number of hours of sleep. To confirm this finding, scientists modified the ABCC9 gene in the fruit fly and obtained similar results. The gene codes…

11/30/2011 0

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