Dental braces

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 No Commented Categorized Under: sleep-apnea

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Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

Dental braces are the familiar wire-based appliances that orthodontists use to correct crowded and misaligned teeth or jaws. Many people who need dental braces get them during their early adolescent years. But adults can get dental braces, too.

The goal of dental braces is to properly align your teeth and jaws and produce an even bite.

Modern materials and technologies make the experience of having dental braces much more comfortable and enjoyable than in the past.

References

  1. Why do people get braces? Academy of General Dentistry. http://www.knowyourteeth.com/print/printpreview.asp?content=article&abc=w&iid=322&aid=1304. Accessed June 11, 2010.
  2. Braces and retainers. Cleveland Clinic. http://my.clevelandclinic.org/devices/dental_care/hic_braces_and_retainers.aspx. Accessed July 27, 2010.
  3. Today’s orthodontic treatment. American Association of Orthodontists. http://www.braces.org/learn/Straight-teeth-are-healthy-teeth.cfm. Accessed June 11, 2010.
  4. Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Orthodontic instructions. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research 2010.
  5. Harrison JE, et al. Orthodontic treatment for prominent upper front teeth in children (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2007:CD003452.
  6. Braces and orthodontics. American Dental Association. http://www.ada.org/2598.aspx. Accessed June 9, 2010.
  7. What is malocclusion? American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. http://www.aapd.org/publications/brochures/maloccl.asp. Accessed June 10, 2010.
  8. Littlewood SJ, et al. Retention procedures for stabilising tooth position after treatment with orthodontic braces (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2006:CD002283.
  9. Heasman P. Master Dentistry, Volume Two: Restorative Dentistry, Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier Limited; 2008:283.
  10. Carr AB (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 26, 20Ǫ.

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How Too Tell If Your Sleep Problem Is Insomnia

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 No Commented Categorized Under: insomnia

How Too Tell If Your Sleep Problem Is Insomnia

About 35% of adults claim that they have some form of insomnia occasionally and about 12% of these people claim to have severe insomnia. Insomnia complaints often increase with age and are more common in women.

Insomnia is not considered a disease but it is a condition of lack of correct, satisfying sleep. Someone with insomnia will generally have the sensation of daytime fatigue and impaired potential performance. Insomnia relates to the inability to sleep even though one is tired and can include waking up too early and having too fitful of a sleep leaving one tired upon waking. Insomnia can result in irritability, lack of energy, difficulty concentrating and tiredness.

There are two generally recognized types of insomnia, acute and chronic. Both acute and chronic insomnia have many shared characteristics and a combination of symptoms may blur the actual lines.

Acute insomnia is often caused by physical or emotional discomforts that can usually be corrected fairly easily. Acute insomnia may be caused by stress, illness or disturbing loud noise, temperatures too high or low, or unacceptable light levels. Additionally, acute insomnia may be caused by jet lag or disturbances of the daily biological rhythm, such as the night shift.

Chronic insomnia is the more difficult insomnia to deal with and often is associated with many different factors either acting alone or in combination and often includes medical problems.

Chronic insomnia is often associated with medical, neurological and or psychiatric disorders. Psychiatric disorders accounts for about 45% of the cases. Chronic insomnia can be associated with a variety of nonprescription drugs, prescription drugs and drugs of abuse.

There are many causes of insomnia and often an insomniac has more then one cause to blame for this condition. One of the main causes of insomnia are drugs. Some of the drugs associated with insomnia include stimulating antidepressants, steroids, decongestants, beta blockers, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and recreational drugs.

Anxiety and mood disorders can be the cause of insomnia, as well as medical problems such as pain, immobility, menopause, hormonal changes, and difficulty breathing.

Insomnia can be associated with specific sleep disorders such as restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, sleep apnea and circadian rhythm sleep problems. Additional causes of insomnia include poor sleep hygiene, poor sleep surfaces such as bad mattresses, hyper arousal, and behavioral conditioning.

Restless Leg Syndrome or RLS is a condition where the sufferer feels unpleasant sensations in the legs which are temporarily alleviated by moving around. Symptoms are increased during relaxed times and sleeping times. This makes it difficult to fall asleep.

Periodic Limb Movement Disorder describes jerking, rhythmic, repeated movements in the legs and lower extremities every 15 to Ⱥ seconds. Sufferers who have this problem report having less refreshing sleep.

Sleep Apnea which is associated with snoring can cause sleeplessness and insomnia.

Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders refer to a mis- match between when a person can sleep and when his body needs and wants to sleep.

Other causes of insomnia include poor sleep hygiene, stress, hyper arousal and negative behavioral conditioning.

Often acute insomnia (insomnia that lasts less than several weeks) may warrant some kind of medical intervention if you can not correct the problem yourself. This is important because good sleepers that suffer just a few hours of sleeplessness may become significantly sleepy during the day and be a danger to him self and others, especially during driving or operating equipment. There is also the danger that acute insomnia may develop into a learned chronic insomnia.

There are two basic approaches to the treatment of insomnia. Basically one approach is to use drugs and the other approach is behavioral.

Behavioral treatment includes correcting poor sleep habits and changing sleep beliefs and attitudes. Several of the therapies include relaxation therapy, sleep restriction therapy, stimulus control therapy, and cognitive therapy.

Pharmacological therapy includes hypnotic medications, antidepressants, antihistamines, melatonin, and other drugs like barbiturates.

In conclusion, there are effective solutions to insomnia and sleep deprivation. The patient can do much to help themselves in this matter and the physician has many tools to aid in this. Improved sleep will help in your quality of life, and health both mental and physical.

Mitch Endick is a short article writer, editor and website developer for the popular web site AbeFeller.com.
www.abefeller.com is a ecommerce site offering great deals and service on mattresses, airbeds, adjustable beds, water beds and bed frames. AbeFeller.com offers a great selection of mattresses for sale.

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Video: Fitness ball bridge with heel dig

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 No Commented Categorized Under: sleep-apnea

Video: Fitness ball bridge with heel dig

Nicole Krupa: Core exercises strengthen your core muscles, including the muscles in your abdomen and back. The bridge is a core exercise you can do to work various core muscles in combination. If you’re comfortable with the bridge, add a heel dig. This exercise primarily targets the hamstrings, the muscles at the backs of your thighs.

Lie on your back with your legs resting on top of the fitness ball and your arms resting at your sides. When you’re ready to begin the exercise, tighten your abdominal muscles and raise your hips and buttocks off of the floor.

Keeping your hips off the floor, dig your heels into the ball while you pull it closer to your buttocks with your feet. Hold for three deep breaths. Then return to the starting position.

Remember to breathe freely and deeply throughout the exercise, and keep your abdominal muscles nice and tight. As you get stronger, gradually increase to 10 to 15 repetitions.

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Video: Squat and reach with fitness ball

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 No Commented Categorized Under: sleep-apnea

Video: Squat and reach with fitness ball

Nicole Krupa: Core exercises strengthen your core muscles, including the muscles in your abdomen and your back. You can do many core exercises with a fitness ball. Let’s try the squat and reach.

Hold the fitness ball in front of you and bend your knees into a squat position. Keep your back straight and your arms parallel to the floor. Don’t let your knees extend beyond your feet.

To begin the exercise, tighten your abdominal muscles. Keeping your knees bent, rotate your trunk and reach with the ball to the left. Hold for three deep breaths. Return to the starting position and repeat to your right.

To vary the exercise, you can hold the fitness ball in a downward position, like this, or in an upward position, like this.

If you’re just starting out, repeat the exercise five times on each side. Remember to breathe freely and deeply throughout your exercise, and keep the abdominal muscles nice and tight. As you get stronger, gradually increase to 10 to 15 repetitions on each side.

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One Night At The Sleep Center - The Best Cure For Sleeping Disorders

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 No Commented Categorized Under: sleep products

One Night At The Sleep Center - The Best Cure For Sleeping Disorders

In case you feel that you have a terrible sleeping disorder, then, your doctor who specializes in this might send you over to the sleep centers for diagnosing the problem and start the treatment. There are a lot of sleep centers located all over the US. The American sleep centers are all accredited.

In case a person goes over for a night to the sleep center, then, he might have to shell out almost a thousand to three thousand dollars on this, and then this has to go on till you revert to the normal status. During the first visit, there is a diagnosis done for the sleeping disorder, and during the second visit, the PAP machines are set to the correct values, and the treatment is administered. Generally, these costs are paid by the health insurance company.

As soon as an appointment is made with the sleep centers, a sleep diary is sent over to the patient, and there is a lot of information given in the diary that makes you understand the general sleep patterns. It is always suggested that caffeine and alcohol must be kept away and not consumed after 12 pm on the day when the test is scheduled.

An overnight bag is packed by the patient like he is going to stay over at an hotel room for the night. You will be wearing your night clothes just as usual, and you can even take your own pillow if you want to. A book or a magazine to help you sleep is always welcome. Most of the sleep centers in the US will be similar to an hotel room, and there will be television to watch too, in case the patient likes it. Once you feel comfortable with the ambience, the technician will start preparing the equipment to record your sleep pattern.

A polysomnography is used to diagnose the sleeping pattern in the sleep center. This will have a continuous record of your sleep. There are many electrodes that are placed on your body in order to get a particular set of readings. They are placed on your scalp, on your rib muscles, abdomen, then, fingers, chest, under your chin, nose, eyes, and also the legs. The various readings are noted by the electrodes when you are sleeping. This sleep is generally videotaped and the various actions are monitored.

When all these equipments are fixed in place, the sleep technician lets you sleep. It is not hard to move around with all these things on. You will be able to move, and even turn either side. There is an intercom present in each room, and in case you need any break in between for water, or bathroom, you can inform the sleep technician. After the sleep study is done, the technician himself will wake you. Most of the diagnosis is done in eight hours.

All these readings are stored in the computer, and they are analyzed by the sleep technician. The results are sent down for verification to determine what kind of a sleep disorder the person is suffering from.

It is important for a sleeping disorder to be rectified as soon as possible with no further apprehension.

Abhishek is a Natural Sleep expert and he has got some great tips on Overcoming Insomnia Download his FREE 110 Pages Ebook, “How To Win Your War Against Insomnia ” from his website http://www.Health-Whiz.com/77/index.htm. Only limited Free Copies available.

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Video: Reverse crunch with fitness ball

Monday, August 30th, 2010 No Commented Categorized Under: sleep-apnea

Video: Reverse crunch with fitness ball

Nicole Krupa: Core exercises strengthen your core muscles, including the muscles in your abdomen and back. You can do many core exercises with a fitness ball. If you’re comfortable using a fitness ball and want to try an advanced core exercise, consider the reverse crunch.

Lie on the fitness ball on your stomach, with your feet touching the floor behind you. Lean forward until you touch the floor with your hands. Walk your hands away from the ball until you feel the ball reach your upper thighs. Keep your shoulders directly above your hands.

Tighten your abdominal muscles and press your knees into the ball. Use your abdominal muscles to bring your knees towards your chest. Hold for three deep breaths. Then return to the starting position.

Repeat the exercise five times. Remember to breathe freely and deeply throughout the exercise, and keep your abdominal muscles nice and tight. As you get stronger, gradually increase to 10 to 15 repetitions.

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