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Get the most up to date information about the sleep apnea and blood pressure connection from a sleep doctor's perspective.

Sleep Apnea and Blood Pressure: the Whole Story

Are sleep apnea and blood pressure related? Can obstructive sleep apnea cause hypertension? Does blood pressure improve with the use of a CPAP machine? Read on to find the answers to these questions and more.

In order to explain the high blood pressure and sleep apnea connection, let's first define a few key concepts.

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Is Mild Sleep Apnea Being Over-treated, or Perhaps not Treated Aggressively Enough?

In this article, I will unpack the scientific evidence informing both sides of the debate about how mild sleep apnea should be managed. To start, let's clarify some key concepts.

What Is Mild Sleep Apnea?

In adult patients (≥ 18 years of age), mild sleep apnea is defined as a sleep apnea test showing an apnea hypopnea index (AHI)  between 5 and 15. AHI is synonymous with RDI (respiratory disturbance index) or REI (respiratory event index - more commonly...

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Not infrequently, people ask me some variation of the following:

I'm told that I snore every night, and a few times my spouse has heard me stop breathing in my sleep. I've done some research online and I'm pretty sure that I have sleep apnea. Do I really need to do a sleep apnea test or is this just an added expense? Why not just buy an auto-CPAP machine?

In this article I'm going to unpack the rationale behind having a sleep apnea study so that you can fully understand your options. In order to honestly address...

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This article is a comprehensive review of mini CPAP options for portable treatment of sleep apnea by our board certified sleep physician.

Mini CPAP: A Guide to Portable CPAP Machines

Are you in the market for a mini CPAP? If you have sleep apnea and are in one of the following groups, a travel CPAP might be of interest to you:

• frequent travelers
• hunters
• backcountry campers
• sailors
• vacation home owners who don't want to lug their regular machines back and forth
• those who don't want everyone to know that they have sleep...

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Want to try Provent Sleep Apnea Therapy? Learn about one of the most popular CPAP alternatives with our comprehensive guide.

Board certified sleep medicine physician Dr. Joseph Krainin discusses Provent therapy reviews, cost, effectiveness, and where to buy one of the most popular alternatives to CPAP.

Introduction to Provent sleep apnea treatment: Is it right for you?

Have you been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and CPAP was recommended, but the...

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If you're unable to tolerate CPAP, there's a new sleep apnea treatment available but there are a lot of factors to consider before trying it. In this article, find out if Inspire is for you. 

What is Inspire therapy for sleep apnea? 

Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) received FDA approval for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in 2014. In some ways, Inspire is similar to a cardiac pacemaker. Cardiac pacemakers stimulate the heart muscle to beat, but Inspire stimulates the hypoglossal nerve to maintain tone in the tongue muscles. The muscles of...

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Mike Napoli: Human PSA for OSA

Despite obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affecting up to one-third of the adult U.S. population, public awareness of this potentially life-threatening medical disorder is shockingly low. Our best statistics suggest that 80% of people suffering from the condition are as yet undiagnosed. Sometimes it takes a high-profile public figure to start a national dialogue, raise awareness, and recalibrate our understanding of a disease. AIDS had Arthur Ashe. Breast cancer has Angelina Jolie. Sleep apnea has...

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Unexpected Emotional, Psychological and Psychiatric Effects of Sleep Deprivation

There has been a resurgence of interest in the effects of sleep deprivation on our psyches since a recent Wall Street Journal article entitled, The Unexpected Ways Sleep Deprivation Makes Life Tougher was published. As a sleep doctor, I applaud any effort to raise awareness of the...

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What are the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)?

One of the most common Google Internet searches regarding sleep apnea is, "What are the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea?" Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea are numerous and diverse. They can be roughly divided into "cardinal" (classical symptoms of the disorder), sleep quality related, and daytime symptoms. Sleep apnea can present differently in certain populations, and symptoms can be alternatively characterized by the distinct manifestations in men, women, children, and elderly patients. In the first article in this series, the cardinal symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)...

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