Women’s Health Information

A Fatal Slumber: What is Sleep Apnea?

Do you snore while you are sleeping? Do you wake up during the night sometimes with the sensation of choking or grasping for breath? Do you wake up with headaches and have trouble staying awake during the day?

If you answered yes to the questions above, chances are you may already be under a threat of a serious, potentially life-threatening sleeping disorder called sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. It comes from the Greek word, apnea, meaning “want of breathe.”

There are two types of sleep apnea: central and obstructive. Central sleep apnea, which is less common, occurs when the brain fails to send the appropriate signals to the breathing muscles to initiate respirations, usually with decreases in blood oxygen saturation. Obstructive sleep apnea is far more common and occurs when air cannot flow into or out of the person’s nose or mouth usually accompanied by a reduction in blood oxygen saturation, and followed by an awakening to breathe.

According to the National Institute of Health, sleep apnea affects more than 18 million Americans. It occurs in all age groups and both sexes but is more common to men over the age of forty. Sleep apnea seems to run in some families, suggesting a possible genetic basis.

Early recognition and treatment of sleep apnea is important because it may be associated with memory problems, weight gain, impotency, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.

Sleep apnea generally has the following symptoms:

• Loud, frequent snoring. This is probably the best and most obvious indicator. Though not everyone who snores has sleep apnea.

• Cessation of breathing during sleep.

• Excessive daytime sleepiness/fatigue.

• Un-refreshing sleep with feelings of grogginess, dullness, morning headaches and severe dryness of mouth.

Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated. Several treatment options exist, such as behavioral therapy, physical or mechanical therapy and surgery. For many sleep apnea patients, their spouses are the first ones to suspect that something is wrong, usually from their heavy snoring and apparent struggle to breathe.

Friends or coworkers of the sleep apnea victim may notice that the individual falls asleep during the day at inappropriate times, such as while driving a car, working or talking. The patient often does not know he or she has a problem. It is important that the person see a doctor for further evaluation.

This article is courtesy of ProsShapeRX

Many families suffer considerably when their child or children leave home. The empty nest syndrome is something that is very real. I will endeavour to follow this story up with some information on the empty nest syndrome…

I’ll also try and find information on support facilities to help you through the tough times when you find that the house is empty and all your children or your child has left home…

Toni

Coping with a child leaving home.

On my daughter’s eighteenth birthday, she announced that she would be moving out after Christmas. This was a big shock, since she had just recently started a new job, that wasn’t even quite up to minimum wage. I wondered how she thought she was going to handle all her expenses.

I tried to get her to wait and save up some money to cover all of her expenses, but she was stubborn and thought she could do just fine with her part-time job. I knew she had to find out the hard way and already I had begun to worry about my daughter, feeling that empty feeling of my only child being out on her own.

On December the thirtieth she moved out. The feeling I had was one of loneliness, dread and worry. I constantly worried whether she was eating right, if she was safe, was she at home at a decent hour and how her job was holding out.

I wanted to rush to her house and order her back home, but knew that she was now an adult on her own. So I decided to be patient and not let her see me worry about her. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but knew in my heart, that just watching over her was all I could do.

I really shouldn’t have worried so much, since she began to drop by the house every so often, until it became an every day thing. She would come eat dinner, do laundry or borrow money; aggravating as that was since she had asserted her independence, I grabbed hold of every bit of time that I could spend with her.

I wanted so badly to tell her to return home and save up some money, but I’m just as stubborn as her and couldn’t bring myself to utter the words.

It wasn’t long before she lost her job and couldn’t pay her bills. She soon found out that she was pregnant and didn’t know what to do about the situation. She wanted the baby, but didn’t know if she was going to be able to take care of it financially on her own.

Watching her worry about her financial situation and her baby ate at my heart. She didn’t want help from her dad and I, so we just had to sit back and watch her struggle. It was heartbreaking and I didn’t know how to cope with my little girl becoming depressed.

During this time, her home was broken into several times and she was afraid to stay at home by herself. We invited her to spend the nights at our home on the couch and she willingly took us up on the offer. Although we wanted her home permanently, we knew that asking was only going to make her more stubborn to remain out on her own. It had to be her choice.

Finally I decided it was time for mom to step in and do something about her situation. I contacted her and sat her down for a long talk. I asked her to come home until she could get on her feet and the baby was born. No rules, other than common courtesy of a phone call if she was going to be out late, keep her room clean and have respect for her parents. I knew that she would need help with her pregnancy and I could help her get the help she needed. I wanted her home safe and I was willing to do anything to make her come home.

I think she finally understood that not only was I her mom, but her friend. I needed her, just as much as she needed me and the support I could give her to get through her first round of entering into the adult world. She asked for help in moving, learning how to deal with finances and finally admitting to us, that she was not ready for the world outside of her safe haven she called home.

I finally realized that the next time she moves out on her own, I will have to let her spread her wings and fly, in order for her to learn life’s lessons and become the competent adult I know that she will be.

Now she has been home for the past seven months, expecting her first baby and growing up a bit more before heading out into the adult world.

It will be hard to let her and the grandbaby go when the time comes, but I know that in order for her to be able to learn how to stand on her own two feet, I’m going to have to learn to loosen the apron strings a bit. I know in my heart, that if she needs me at any time, she knows that mom will be there.

Brenda

Many women and men around the world live with a disorder called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder… or OCD. It is a mental condition that some who do not understand it will not recognize the affects that it has on people. OCD affects people in different ways. Not all symptoms are the same.

My partner has told me about his mother who would often spend up to 30 minutes at a time making sure the front door was locked before going out. While other people will clean and clean and clean, over and over and over again. Others will wash their hands constantly, making sure they are clean…

C Fieldson wrote this article for Women’s Health Information – the title is Again and Again and Again. It is an article explaining a little about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder…

Again and Again and Again
(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

Anxiety disorders are a known part of any society and have been for countless eons. Stories throughout the ages have characters plagued by phobias, panic attacks, anxiety and obsessions.

Acknowledgement of the commonality of these mental conditions doesn’t always make it easier to seek treatment or get help in handling the day to day fight. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is perhaps one of the most mentioned as its behaviors or compulsions are easier to notice than the inner mental issues behind them.

One example of OCD is the compulsive hand washing of the queen in Hamlet as she tries to erase the illusionary guilt/fear she feels, repeating the action again and again.

OCD is an anxiety disorders characterized by the presence of recurring intrusive and unwanted thoughts, images or impulses - obsessions and repetitive behavioral and mental rituals - compulsions such as an obsession about germs and the repeated obsessive need to wash and rewash one’s hands after touching anything again and again.

A sufferer from OCD is aware that their symptoms are irrational and excessive but find the obsessions controllable and the compulsions difficult or impossible to resist.

The symptoms of OCD vary in type but the common thread is that they are distressing, exhausting, take up a lot of time and can significantly interfere with the person’s family and social relationships, daily routines, education and ability to work.

Some common obsessions include: fear of contamination from germs and dirt; fear of harm to self and others; intrusive sexual thoughts or images, concerns with symmetry, illness or religious issues; an intense, irrational fear of everyday objects and situations (phobias).

Common compulsions can include washing, cleaning, checking, hoarding, touching, counting and repeating routine activities and actions. Time spent dealing with one’s inner struggles over these issues can overwhelm her. It becomes difficult to carve out time for family, friends, chores and daily needs beyond the compulsions.

Although the causes of OCD are not completely understood researches know that they are related to chemical, structural and functional abnormalities of the brain. Genetics and hereditary factors play a role and outside stressful events, hormonal changes and personality traits all come into play as well.

It is estimated that at least three people in every hundred suffers from OCD at some time in their lives.

Treatment, as for almost any mental illness, uses a combination of medication, therapy and community support to help a patient handle this illness.

Medication is used to help restore chemical balance in the brain as well to help control the obsessions and compulsions. For OCD cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is often used to help a patient identify symptoms of their illness and work out alternative ways of looking at the problem and coping with the effects in their daily lives.

This is especially important step of treatment. Learning how to deal with the stresses of their daily lives OCD can make managing home life difficult and CBT can help provide effective management tools for accomplishing family tasks.

Support and counseling for families is also essential in coping with the lingering effects of OCD by encouraging family to help relieve some of the day to day struggle to complete tasks and offer understanding and acceptance to the patient.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can make a normal life seem like a minefield filled with hidden dangers but supportive family and friends can help an OCD sufferer seek the medical help and treatment that will make life bearable and eventually fulfilling once again.

Singapore tells spouses of patients’ HIV status

Singapore’s Health Ministry has started informing spouses of HIV-positive patients directly about their partners’ disease in order to curb the spread of AIDS.

Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan says letters have been hand-delivered to 41 women since July informing them that their husbands are HIV-positive.

“Previously, some wives were not aware of their spouse’s HIV status and so they were at risk of the HIV infection,” said text of the speech posted on the website.

“Since July this year, we have informed the wife when the infected husband had not informed her of his positive HIV status.

“Marriage and the women’s own fidelity are not enough to protect them against HIV infection. Most have been infected despite staying faithful to their partners.”

The letters advise spouses to get screened for HIV and give them information about counselling services available at the Communicable Disease Centre.

The ministry says two of the women who received the notifications have since tested positive for the virus.

In July the Singapore Government scrapped a law that required the patient’s consent to inform their spouse.

The move to sanction breaching patient confidentiality is part of a raft of measures introduced to fight the spread of AIDS.

Although the wealthy South-East Asian city-state has one of Asia’s lowest levels of HIV infection, it has said it is tightening defences due to an increase in cases.

Singapore has recorded a total of 2,584 HIV infections to date, of whom 954 have died, 631 have full-blown AIDS and 999 show no symptoms.

From January to October this year, 198 people were diagnosed with HIV, less than 10 per cent of them women.

In July, the ministry introduced HIV testing as part of the antenatal screening routine for pregnant women.

A pilot project to distribute HIV self-test kits at locations where homosexuals socialise will be soon be launched.

Controversial legislative measures, such as compulsory HIV testing for couples about to marry and criminalising the act of spreading the HIV virus with or without intent, have also been considered but have not been implemented.

- Reuters