Never bet on a snoring sumo

[Taro Toporific]

Wrestling With Sleep Apnea
From: About Sleep Disorders / march 6
A while ago I wrote an article about the number of football players who suffer from sleep apnea. Now another study, this one conducted in the Douai Memorial Hospital in Tokyo, reveals that many Sumo wrestlers also suffer Sleep Apnea... if the wrestler suffers from obstructive sleep apnea, he lacks the concentration needed for the sport. This may be causing injuries. Apnea is also causing wrestlers to lose more matches than is normal or to miss tournaments.

[Marvin Feltcher]

I have it...the memory loss is astounding!
I have it...the memory...oh sh*t!...see what I mean.
Actually, the treatment is worse than the disorder. They stick all these plugs up your nose and a mask over your face...no wonder you can't sleep properly!

[mr. sparkle]

I have it...the memory loss is astounding!
I have it...the memory...oh sh*t!...see what I mean.
Actually, the treatment is worse than the disorder. They stick all these plugs up your nose and a mask over your face...no wonder you can't sleep properly!

Marvin,
I think I have it too. So I had a sleep study done, and I went through what you described just last night. Now I KNOW I have it.

Since my insurance SUCKS, I had to pay for that: around $1000. Ouch.

But you something ol' boy? I feel like a SUPERHUMAN today. My brain is so alert and I feel 20 years younger. And this is only wearing the mask ONCE. And only for half a night!

Oh man, I want a mask, like, RIGHT NOW.

But I must wait a week before I can sleep like a baby once more.
If you are a bad snorer, you may be hurting yourself and not even know it. I suggest you look into a sleep study.

My thanks to Pongi, who over 4 years ago suggested I have my apnea looked into. I have decided that I am going to go the CPAP mask unless and until I drop the weight I need to get out of the OSA zone. Even then, I still may use it.

Excuse me, I need to go and run around the block.

[Mike Oxlong]

Pongi-san, did you have it checked/operated on in Japan? If so, what was your experience? Covered by shakai hoken? Horny nurses? Do tell!

[dimwit]

Well, my wife farts in her sleep. Is that the same thing?:)

[AssKissinger]

Well, my wife farts in her sleep. Is that the same thing?:)

You better put some tubes up her ass just to be safe.

[mr. sparkle]

You are very welcome Mr. Sparkle-sama

Cool man. We'll see what the doc recommends: operation, mask or both. No mask last night, and today I woke up feeling so tired and dragged down compared to the sleep I had with the mask. Looking forward to getting this resolved. The added energy I had yesterday was so welcome. I am looking forward to having that energy in the morning I haven't had since I was a kid.

I have a positive attitude towards any treatment that can get me feeling like I did yesterday. I hope it can only get better as I've now become an Oxygen-Rich Sleep afficianado. CPAP users are more hardcore than the tuner community.

[mr. sparkle]

so I did, and, the doc took one look at my throat and told me that it was way too narrow. So I too then had the uvulopalatopharyngoplasty

Rob,
In doing a lot of research in the "sleep community" about this lately, and I also thought about surgery (removal of andenoids, tonsils, and a good chunk out of the back of your mouth) too, but it seems too gnarley to me. Furthermore, it appears that that the UPPP operation (and others similar to it) is not all that effective in actually treating Sleep Apnea, although it's OK with snoring which are not necessarily related. The operation that is actually supposed to work is to rebuild your entire jaw! In the old days the answer to Sleep Apnea was a tracheotomy! YOWWWW.

For Sleep Apnea, and for me, CPAP therapy seems to be the only way to go. They have machines with software which will read out how you are sleeping each night, and you can tweak your machine to get just the right amount of H20 pressure to keep the airway "splinted" open. Should have my rig set up next week. Looking to get the "Cadillac" of CPAPs. It's gonna have a Humidifier, an Austrailian Heated Hose and a kick ass mask. Good deals and they sell to Japan residents are here: http://www.cpap.com

Seriously, if any of you folks reading this even thinks that you may have or may show symptoms of sleep apnea, then go to a doctor and get yourself checked out. Really. Check it out!

Cheers!

Exactly.

[mr. sparkle]

Did you read the Answers.com article all the way though?

G N A R L E Y. And it IS Japan related, amazingly.

Now I definitely am going to stick to CPAP.

Success

There are limited studies of UPPP as an isolated procedure. Although in the short-term the snoring can be improved or eliminated, unless the surgery is followed by treatment of other potential causes, within two years the procedure remains effective in less than 40% of patients. There is little data about the long-term effectiveness, but it is likely to be even less. Many of the studies on UPPP have been criticized for being methodologically unsound. Patients undergoing UPPP should always be selected on the basis of otolaryngologic examination including flexible nasopharyngoscopy, cephalometry and polysomnography. UPPP effectiveness depends on rational selection of candidates.


LAUP (laser-assisted uvulopalatopharyngoplasty)

The laser variation of this procedure, "laser-assisted uvulopalatopharyngoplasty" (or LAUP) is even more controversial. It was aggressively marketed as a so-called "cure" for snoring during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was first pioneered by Kamami, a [b]Japanese surgeon, who had used the procedure mostly on Japanese females who were of slender build.[/b] Early results seemed favourable, but during the late 1990s, researchers (including Finkelstein, Schmidt and others) published data which showed that in a considerable number of cases, laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty may also cause mild OSA in patients who formerly were nonapneic snorers, or lead to deterioration of existing apnea.These results are attributable to the thermal damage inflicted by the laser beam. The laser may induce progressive palatal fibrosis, accompanied by medial traction of the posterior tonsillar pillars. In plain English, this means that the laser beam can create a lot of scar tissue, which can reduce the airspace in the pharynx and lead to a condition known as velopharyngeal insufficiency. The scar tissue can also make the airway more prone to collapse during sleep. LAUP can be a medically induced cause of sleep apnea. Despite adverse results, LAUP continues to be administered by a minority of surgeons. To this day, few if any patients who have undergone laser-assisted uvulopalatopharyngoplasty for primary (social) snoring have been provided with pre- and postoperative polysomnogram (sleep testing) or followup. An LAUP procedure typically costs between two and three thousand American dollars. It takes roughly thirty minutes and is usually done in a surgeon's office as an outpatient procedure. Typically a CO2 type laser is used.

You and your Dad might look into having a follow up sleep test. After reading the above, and if insurance can cover it, I'd do it.

[mr. sparkle]

A good Japanese site for Sleeping Disorders.

http://www.e-sleep.info/

[mr. sparkle]

5 days on the CPAP machine. I feel like a NEW MAN. Yeah Baby.
No longer need 6 cans of AISU KOHI to get rolling in the morning.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Test to detect Sleep Apnea Syndrome ineffective

A test to detect Sleep Apnea Syndrome (SAS), or people who often stop breathing while sleeping, is ineffective, research has shown. Research by Takeshi Tanigawa, an assistant professor at Tsukuba University and other experts, shows that 86 percent of people who faced a high likelihood of SAS in a brief examination were diagnosed as not suffering from SAS in a follow-up Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) test. The research covered 1,467 truck drivers in Tokyo and Niigata Prefecture in 2004 who were given a brief examination followed by an ESS test. Some equipment was attached to the tips of their fingers in a bid to record how often they experience apnea and weak breathing while asleep. An ESS test checks how often people are prone to doze under different conditions such as reading, taking a rest while lying down and waiting at traffic lights. On a scale of a maximum 24 points, those who get more than 11 points are judged to suffer from abnormal sleepiness, while those with more than 16 points are called "serious cases."

The brief examination found that 88 of 1,467 drivers were highly suspected of suffering from SAS. Of the 88, only 12 drivers, or 14 percent, got more than 11 points in the ESS test. For example, a 35-year-old driver was found to be a serious sufferer in the brief test although he got only one point in the ESS test. The results of Tanigawa's research casts doubt on the effectiveness of ESS tests in detecting SAS sufferers. "People sometimes believe that fatigue resulting from irregularly work causes abnormal sleepiness," Tanigawa said. "On top of that, professional drivers are likely to avoid showing sleepiness in an ESS test because they don't want to lose their jobs."

[mr. sparkle]

Sounds like they are not giving them a true Somnogram. You have to be hooked up to MULTIPLE diodes, not just something they attach to your finger. They did attach an oximeter to my finger, which is cool. It shows the 02 content of your blood as you sleep. Mine got to a dangerously low level.

I have a feeling that these poor folks are not getting a good sleep study. Here is an image which depicts all the stuff they hook you up to.