Northshore Sleep Medicine
If you hate CPAP, then you need to check out my blog every Tuesday for the Tuesday Tips for CPAP Strugglers. If you can’t get use to the CPAP, the most common reason is that you have not found the right mask, so you think that you hate the CPAP when in fact you hate [...]
More than once, the question has come up from one of my Jewish patients: Can I use my CPAP on the Sabbath? Most Rabbis agree that it is alright to use medical equipment such as CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) that your doctor has determined is medically necessary for treatment of your obstructive sleep apnea. [...]
My patient, Tom, recently emailed me to say that since he started using his CPAP regularly, he has had no episodes of atrial fibrillation (a condition marked by an irregular heartbeat and one that greatly increases your chance of stroke). He is delighted to have a reprieve from this troublesome disorder and he attributes his [...]
If there is one piece of wisdom that doctors have gained over the past 20 years, it is: that the slower the heart beats, the better. Whenever someone has a heart attack or is diagnosed with coronary heart disease, then a good doctor puts the patient on medications that lower the heart rate (usually drugs [...]
One of my patients told me the funniest thing the other day. I diagnosed him with severe sleep apnea a couple of months ago and when he started CPAP he was really a new man. He sleeps better at night and wakes up refreshed and full of energy. On the most recent visit, when I asked how his [...]
On August 3 2009, NPR (www.npr.org) ran 2 pieces on sleep. Once again, I would like to add some nuance to their reporting. First, I must take objection with the statement that CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines are “loud and cumbersome”. CPAP machines have changed so much in the past few years. They are [...]
The Chicago Tribune ran a piece yesterday with the headline: Sleep Disorders: Some facilities try new home-style approach. There wasn’t much about home testing. It was more about how common sleep apnea is (TRUE) and how under-diagnosed it is (VERY TRUE) and about how there are sleep labs opening up all over Chicago. The reporter, Robert Mitchum [...]
