Sleep Apnea
Dr. Weyrich's Naturopathic Functional Medicine Notebook
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Overview
Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person stops breathing while sleeping, and then tends to awake with a start when breathing is restarted by a gasp. This cycle of events can repeat hundreds of times per night.Sleep apnea can be divided into two types:
- Obstructive.
- Neurogenic.
In some cases, disorders such as chronic fatigue and hypertension have been attributed to sleep apnea.
Etiology
Low thyroid function, called hypothyroidism, has been associated with obstructive sleep apnea [Starr2005, pg 7]. Presumably this is due to obstruction caused by myxedema.Neurogenic sleep apnea has also been associated with hypothyroidism [DeGroot1996; Starr2005, pg 126].
Differential Diagnosis
- Hypothyroid
- Vitamin B12 deficiency [stuart2006].
Treatment
Treatments for obstructive sleep apnea include:- Treat hypothyroidism if present.
- Weight loss is often effective.
- Dental appliances that reposition the mouth and tongue are often effective.
- Continuous Positive Pressure breathing machines are effective but expensive, and anoy many patients.
ICD-9 Codes
| ICD9-Code | Description | Comments |
|---|---|---|
References
Unless specifically noted above, references used in the construction of this web page include the following:[FDM] Lecture notes from Functional Medicine University.
[SCNM] Lecture notes from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.
[UT] Lecture notes from the University of Tennessee graduate programs in Chemistry and Biochemistry.
[DeGroot1996] L.J. DeGroot et al. The Thyroid and Its Diseases, Sixth Edition. New York: Churchill Livingston (1996). Cited by [Starr2005].
[Starr2005] Mark Starr. Hypothyroidism Type 2: The Epidemic. Columbia, MO: Mark Starr Trust (2005).
[Stuart2006] J.J. Stuart & S.M. Pacholok. Could it be B12? An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses. Sanger, CA: Quill Driver Books/Word Dancer Press (2006).
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