Medslant Acid Reflux Newsletter

Sleep Apnea Surgery and It's alternatives

For those of you suffering from mild Sleep Apnea and/or snoring, you may want to discuss the following procedure with your physician. It might provide a better night's sleep for both you and your partner. There is a mildly invasive surgical treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and snoring called the Pillar procedure.

Developed and manufactured by Restore Medical Inc., the Pillar procedure is performed in your doctor s office under local anesthetic and takes about 30 minutes.

OSA is the most common form of Sleep Apnea and is usually caused by the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapsing and narrowing or closing during sleep. As air gets forced down the narrowed airway, surrounding tissue vibrates, thus producing snoring. Further narrowing and/or collapse of these tissues results in interrupted breathing. Each time breathing stops the body briefly wakes itself to resume breathing. Some, but not all, of the upper airway narrowing and collapse occurs at the level of the soft palate ' the fleshy tissue visible at the back of your mouth.

During the Pillar procedure the physician places inserts which stiffen and support the tissue of the soft palate to reduce upper airway collapse and snoring. The treatment is not recommended for severe OSA or other kinds of apnea and may be less effective in patients who are overweight. The best suggestion is an evaluation by an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doctor).

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 12 million Americans suffer from Sleep Apnea. Although the most common side effects of OSA are interrupted sleep and daytime fatigue, sleep apnea can also contribute to high blood pressure and other problems. The New England Journal of Medicine, March 18, 1999, reports that sleep apnea patients are up to 6 times more likely to be involved in a car accident resulting from drowsiness than those without sleep disorders. And The Mayo Clinic reported that partners of sleep apnea patients lose an hour of sleep every night because of the partner's snoring.

Restore Medical states that the Pillar system was cleared by the USDA for snoring and for mild to moderate OSA. The Pillar System also received CE Mark certification for snoring and mild to moderate OSA from the European Commission.

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