Sunday, December 19, 2010

Sleep apnea and brain trauma

As most people know sleep apnea and its effect isn't limited to just the lack of sleep. Severe consequences like heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure problems and depression are among the many disorders that could accompany sleep apnea. There is also an indication that sleep apnea and other sleep disorders are common with folks with brain trauma.


What are the effects of brain trauma?

According to Wikipedia brain trauma or traumatic brain injury TBI “can cause a host of physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects, and outcome can range from complete recovery to permanent disability or death.”

Does treating the sleep apnea help the brain trauma?

There was a study done by Richard J. Castriotta, M.D., director of the division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston to try to "Determine whether treatment of sleep disorders identified in brain injured adults would result in resolution of those sleep disorders and improvement of symptoms and daytime function." 60 percent of the participants didn't have sleep disorders while the rest did. The sleep apnea sufferers were treated with the CPAP machine for 3 months. The study conclusion was that after the treatment daytime sleepiness wasn't resolved even though the sleep disorder was apparently resolved. In other words it seems that if you have brain trauma and sleep apnea you’re your sleep interruption will be improved but you will still be sleepy during the day.

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