Posted on 09/27/2023 3:12:23 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A long-term study of patients who had upper airway surgery has confirmed the benefits for better management of moderate to severe sleep apnea for people who failed to adapt or are not suited to continuous positive pressure airway (CPAP) therapy, say experts.
Follow-up checks with 36 of the first 48 patients who had Sleep Apnea Multi-Level Surgery (SAMS)—which involves repositioning the palate along with minimally invasive tongue volume reduction to increase upper airway flow—found consistently positive improvement in their sleep apnea symptoms up to three years later, according to research.
"The benefits include less disrupted sleep and daytime drowsiness, less snoring in some cases and better general health, an important consideration given we know sleep loss can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular and stroke, obesity, depression and anxiety and other issues," says Professor Simon Carney.
Professor Carney says the selective use of this palate surgery can substantially reduce the number of night-time apnea events without need for CPAP machines.
After six months, those who received the surgery had an approximate 60% decrease in the frequency of throat obstructions at night compared with a 20% decrease in participants who remained on medical treatment, and had major added improvements in snoring, daytime sleepiness and general health status.
After 2–3 years, the follow-up study found the surgical results remained stable despite concerns the expected benefits from the upper airway surgery would reduce over time.
The trial participants were mainly overweight males with severe OSA who could not satisfactorily use standard medical treatments.
While some patients reported minor taste and swallow complaints after the surgery, most unanimously had an improved quality of life and a high level of satisfaction overall.
"The benefits include improvement in sleep apnea markers and daytime sleepiness, and possibly secondary benefits of less snoring and improved general health," says Professor Mackay.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
My lady friend was diagnosed, wouldn’t use the machine. She’s 80 now so why bother?
I had that friggin mask and eventually lost the ability to differentiate smells.
Life insurance rates went through the roof because of that test and diagnosis.
I stopped wearing it when I lost weight.
My wife says I don’t snore or wake her up when I would gasp for air anymore.
I tell anyone who is thinking about taking that test, DON’T. Could you lose weight and see if that helps?
Learn to use the CPAP machine. It’s not that hard.
Any sort of surgery is getting more and more risky, between woke medical schools, untreatable infections...etc.
I tolerate the CPAP.
After years of resisting it, I now try using the CPAP Mask.
I say try, because I will go to bed wearing it, but around three or four hours later, I usually find myself awakening with the Mask off and at times, still clutched in my guilty hand.
Usually, though, by that time, my mouth is very dry anyway, so I leave it off for the rest of the night.
The Mask serves as a good way for me to drift off to sleep in first part of the night.
Surgeries like this scare me to death. If there’s an adverse outcome, you can’t tell the doc “Put it back the way it was.” It’s a one-way street, like “gender affirming” mutilations.
Hurts just thinking about it.
I got the surgery. Took me 3 weeks before I could tollerate anything more than tepid water in small swallows. Lost 25 lbs.
Still cant handle anything spicy. Taco Bell mild sauce is all I can candle now.
Dont snore though and get a full nights rest. Still have high Blood pressure though.
I had sleep apnea surgery in 1999. Tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy and removed some tissue from the back of the soft palate.
I had allergies so my sinus doctor said I wasn’t a good candidate for the CPAP plus he said I didn’t want to be cleaning that machine every day for the rest of my life.
The one downside of the surgery is that if I cough while eating it goes up into my sinuses, Pork Rinds can really get me because they crunch into a powder and if I’m not careful and that goes up in my sinuses, I’ll be coughing and sneezing for 15 mminutes.
I’ve had several doctors trying to get me to do surgery.
I tell them that the reason surgery will not work for me is simple.
My jawbone is too small for my face.
It pushes my tongue back into my throat.
The only thing that they can do is shatter my jawbone and wire it back up larger than it is.
Then, pierce my tongue and attach it to the jaw, and hope it stretches out.
Needless to say, the odds of this succeeding are zero.
I use CPAP every night, I can’t sleep without it.
The first night (on CPAP) was awful, but with perseverance, a sense of humor, and a sense of purpose, I was on board in a few weeks
My blood tests normalized, my daytime sleepiness vanished, and a dozen other things all got better, many of which I had no idea to expect.
That was over a decade ago.
In that time, I've suggested to eight or nine folks that they might ask for a sleep study.
Each and every one of them has told me that xPAP has been life changing.
For gosh sakes, stick with xPAP, and make it work. You will be happier, healthier, live longer, and yes, vote in more elections.
50% of CPAP is effective. I studied how they made the anti- snore mouthpiece, bought a mouth protector at Walmart for $15, and shaped it with a Dremel tool.
I LOVE my CPAP. Changed my marriage. I was a total zombie and jerk in the AM. CPAP and 8-9 hours of sleep changed all that. Happy. Healthy!
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