The Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare) rolled out in 2014. Since then, we've seen changes in how healthcare is administered by many insurance companies.

Here's an overview of how sleep apnea testing in-center and in-home, PAP therapy and oral appliance therapy are affected by the Affordable Care Act. 

A recent segment on NPR’s All Things Considered came on and caught my interest when I heard the terms “sleep quality” and “sleep deprivation”. I was even more interested when I heard that the interviewee was conducting research in India on the relationship between poor sleep quality and poverty.

We’re constantly revisiting reasons why sleep is important to health on our blog, our website, etc., so drawing a connection between poor sleep and poverty sounded pretty compelling. Read on! 

Age and sleep are closely related, and many people will notice a significant decline in the quality of sleep as they grow older. According the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, sleep patterns change throughout life, and for most of us, the amount of time we spend sleeping each day slowly decreases as we age.

Many patients find the idea of having to wear a mask to sleep every night to be daunting. Fortunately, the field of sleep medicine is changing quickly, in ways that are making treatment more accessible, convenient, and patient-friendly. Most excitingly, better and more comfortable treatment options are being developed that could replace CPAP entirely--even as soon as the next couple years. 

It is the time of the year when kids don their best spooky apparel and go out for some mischief and sweets.

With all this excitement, it could be hard for your kids to keep their sleep.

We have previously posted on two sleeping problems that can be prevented with the right approach:

NIGHTMARES, which can be caused by something as minor as a stimulating bedtime snack to the more serious sleep disorders, such as restless leg syndrome and sleep apnea. Read the article to find out more about the causes and ways of addressing nightmares.

SLEEP PARALYSIS - a condition in which a person is mentally conscious but physically unable to move. This can be accompanied by the spooky feeling that there is someone else in the room - sure to raise some hairs on your little one! Read on to find out ways to help prevent sleep paralysis.

So how do you keep your kids from having sleep problems around Halloween? Here are some important tips.

Did you know that if you don't use all of your health insurance benefits this year, you lose them forever? 

Sleep apnea can occur in any demographic, but this condition, in which sufferers involuntarily cease to breathe is particularly prevalent among professional football players. Did you know that up to 1/3 of NFL players have sleep apnea? Unfortunately, the very size and strength that allows pro football players to excel at their sport, increases the risk for compromised health off the field. Notably, Reggie White, who played for both the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles died in his early forties. His premature demise was reportedly due, in part, to complications of sleep apnea.

A recent study, conducted by The New England Journal of Medicine recently tested "fifty-two professional players from eight randomly selected NFL teams." The study concluded that obstructive sleep apnea was approximately five times higher in these subjects than in similarly aged adults undergoing the same testing.

This is a significant study because it shows high body mass and thick necks make these athletes more susceptible to sleep apnea. That, in turn, indicates that others with the same characteristics are also at a higher risk for this life-threatening condition.

If you wake up alone in the morning because your partner had to go sleep on the couch to get a good night's sleep, it might be time to call a professional.

If you find yourself falling asleep, again, at the 2:00pm meeting in the boss's office, it might be time to call a professional.

If you are tired of feeling tired, all day, every day... Well, you get the idea.

Excessive daytime sleepiness is one of the most common symptoms of sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that affects as many as 20 million Americans.

When you and your doctor are ready to figure out what ails you, you might come visit us here at Advanced Sleep Medicine Services, Inc. Your physician may suggest an in-center sleep study or it might be that a home sleep test is the appropriate route for you.

Research shows that men treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea are at a much lower risk for both fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events than their untreated peers.

Endpoints [of the study] were fatal cardiovascular events (death from myocardial infarction or stroke) and non-fatal cardiovascular events (non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, coronary artery bypass surgery, and percutaneous transluminal coronary angiography).

Who participated in the study and how were they monitored?

The research, conducted over the course of ten years, observed:

• 264 healthy men
• 377 simple snorers
• 403 men with untreated mild-moderate obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea
• 235 men with untreated severe disease
• 372 men with the disease and treated with CPAP.

Weariness, fatigue, tossing and turning; while it's easy to blame our modern lifestyle with all its screens and alert sounds for our bad sleep habits, sometimes the true culprit is a more natural issue. Sleep apnea affects millions of North Americans, with more receiving diagnosis daily. While your inability to reach REM sleep might be the result of watching The Walking Dead before bedtime, it could also be that your body, albeit briefly, stops breathing when you sleep.