Life After CPAP: A Physician's Experience with Obstructive

Life After CPAP: A Physician's Experience with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, the Most Commonly Missed Common Diagnosis in the U.S.

In 1998, the author, a physician closed her family practice. She did not go back into clinical practice for almost a decade. During those ten years, she was treated for depression that would not respond to medication. After three years, she discovered why---she had obstructive sleep apnea. Once the correct diagnosis was made, she assumed that her life would return to normal immediately. However, she found out that treating OSA can be as difficult as diagnosing it. CPAP, the treatment that was supposed to make everything better ended up making her worse. This is the story of how she came back from disability to resume the practice of medicine.

OSA---obstructive sleep apnea---is a common condition that is commonly unrecognized by health care providers. Anywhere from 4 to 10% of Americans suffer from OSA, but only two out of ten know what is wrong with them. Why is sleep apnea so difficult to diagnose? Why, after it is diagnosed is it so difficult to treat? This story, a family physician's first hand account of the disease attempts to answer those questions. Those who want to learn more about sleep apnea can read about the causes, signs and symptoms. Those who think they or some one they know has OSA can learn about the various treatment options---including the pitfalls of treatment. Too often, doctors hear the phrase "sleep apnea" and think "CPAP" as if this is the only effective treatment. CPAP is not the only option, nor is it always effective. Learn about "sleep hygiene", oral appliances, surgery and other treatments that can help you regain your energy, your memory and your concentration, while improving your mood, your migraine headaches and your pain. Untreated sleep apnea is an important cause of disability in this country. Drivers with untreated OSA make our roads unsafe. If we continue to say "CPAP or nothing" over half the people with sleep apnea will fail to get better---and, as our population gets older and heavier, the problem will just get worse.
Country USA
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2014-01-13
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2014-01-13
Format	Kindle eBook

Life After CPAP: A Physician's Experience with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, the Most Commonly Missed Common Diagnosis in the U.S.

You might also like...