Florida Dental Sleep Disorders Blog

Spring has officially sprung, and for many of us, that means just one thing: Spring cleaning. While everyone understands the merits of cleaning around the house, did you know that sleep basically does the same thing for your brain every night? A breakthrough study recently conducted by neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard revealed that sleep does much more for the brain than simply give it time to recharge. In fact, getting enough sleep could be the key to fighting off something like Alzheimer’s! (more…)

Sleep apnea is currently the second-most prominent sleep disorder in the U.S., affecting about 1 in 5 adults every single night. While there are multiple treatments for the disorder, including CPAP therapy, oral appliance therapy, and corrective surgery, they all have one thing in common: they seek to fix the problem mechanically. However, in a recent clinical trial led by professors from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern University, they tried to determine if a drug could actually be used effectively for sleep apnea treatment. They decided to use dronabinol, which is made using a synthetic version of THC, the psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis. How did the trial work? What did they discover? Read on to find out. (more…)

Despite what you may remember most mornings, people actually dream every single night—we just tend to forget it a lot of the time! Dreaming is actually a part of REM sleep or the deepest part of the sleep cycle. REM sleep is absolutely essential to getting a full night’s rest, and if you’re deprived of it, say because of sleep apnea, your health could actually be at risk. How at risk? And why is dreaming so important to your health anyway? What can you do if you’re not getting the quality of sleep you need every night? Today, we reveal why your dreams are actually important to your overall wellbeing.

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If you quickly Google something like “how to be healthier” or “simple health tips,” you’ll basically get all of the same advice from everywhere you look (at least from the people/sites who know what they are talking about): eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep. As people become busier and more attached to devices with each passing year, it’s usually that last item that gets neglected the most. Why is sleep so essential to your health? Even more important, what can happen to you if you don’t get enough sleep? Today, I’m going to share some of the most common effects of sleep deprivation and what you can do to make sure you get enough sleep night after night. (more…)

We’ve all done it at one time or another, and chances are, most of the people you know have as well. What I’m talking about is driving while drowsy. While we’ve all heard a lot about the dangers of driving while drunk, one of the most fatal driving conditions actually involves sleep deprivation. For the kinds of patients I treat every day—those with sleep apnea—driving while drowsy is just a normal part of their life. Today, I want to reveal just how dangerous this really is as well as what you can do to avoid it and keep yourself safe. (more…)

For many premenopausal and postmenopausal women, hot flashes are just a fact of life, and unfortunately, they often cause sleep disturbances, though many women simply try to ignore them. However, in a new study recently published by The North American Menopause Society (NAMS), women who suffered from severe hot flashes were almost twice as likely to also have sleep apnea. What is the connection between the two? We discuss it today, and whether or not hot flashes mean you need to get sleep testing. (more…)

It’s a typical night in bed for you, in that you’re just staring at the ceiling as your partner snores like it’s their job. You’ve tried jabbing them with your elbow or just putting a pillow on their head, but short of smothering them, nothing seems to help long term. There has to be a way to get them to stop snoring completely, right?  You can’t go through another sleepless night! Thankfully, easy, at-home snoring treatment in Melbourne is possible, so today, we’re going to share the 4 best ways to help your partner stop snoring. (more…)