My Dad had a snoring problem. I can still remember nights as a child hearing what sounded like a diesel truck driving through the house. This "diesel truck" was of course my Father, snoring away, much to the chagrin of the rest of the household. His snoring would often be too loud for my Mother to sleep in the same room, which is completely understandable when you take into account that I could hear his snoring from across the entire house. Since his snoring was such an imposing force on my childhood, I sought an answer to the question: why do people snore? People snore because the airway in the throat or nasal passage is blocked or restricted or as a possible symptom of sleep apnea. In the most general sense, snoring is the vibration of the tissue in your airway. When a person sleeps, the muscles in the mouth and throat relax. As the muscles in the mouth and throat become hypotonic, airflow can be restricted by the narrowing of the airway. As the airway narrows and air is inhaled during normal breathing, the tissue can vibrate, which produces snoring. There are people, such as my Father, who have blockages in the nasal passageway that cause snoring. These blockages are often an affliction the person is born with, but can also be caused by a broken nose or other injury. A common medical issue that can cause snoring is a deviated septum. The nasal septum is the wall dividing the nasal cavity into halves; it is composed of a central supporting skeleton covered on each side by mucous membranes (American Academy of Otolaryngology, 2014). The ideal position of the nasal septum is exactly midline. A deviated septum occurs when the septum is not in the middle of the passages, blocking one or both passages. The increased effort requir... ... middle of paper ... ...s breathing all together for possibly minutes at a time, snoring loudly when the pressure is great enough to overcome the tissue blockage. Although having this knowledge will do little to quiet a person who snores, it does provide a greater understanding of the issue and allows for appropriate measures to be taken. Bibliography American Academy of Otolaryngology. (2014). American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from https://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/deviatedSeptum.cfm Kovacs, J. S. (2007, October 02). WebMD. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/nix-nightcap-better-sleep National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2012, July 10). Retrieved April 23, 2014, from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sleepapnea/
On a global scale, the United States is a relatively wealthy country of advanced industrialization. Unfortunately, the healthcare system is among the costliest, spending close to 18% of gross domestic product (GDP) towards funding healthcare (2011). No universal healthcare coverage is currently available. United States healthcare is currently funded through private, federal, state, and local sources. Coverage is provided privately and through the government and military. Nearly 85% of the U.S. population is covered to some extent, leaving a population of close to 48 million without any type of health insurance. Cost is the primary reason for lack of insurance and individuals foregoing medical care and use of prescription medications.
Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.
First though, what is snoring? Snoring is the vibration of the tissues of the airways of the nose and throat, caused by turbulent airflows flowing through their narrowed passages. Snoring is actually fairly common, with some studies estimating that between 30-40% of all men and women snore on a regular basis.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) found in 84.3% of the cases and it occurs when the soft tissues in the back of the throat relax during sleep and blocks the airway.
Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder where breathing stops several times, and starts again often waking the person with the condition. The person is not usually aware when they wake up; it is only brief but takes away from their sleep cycle which causes them to feel tired during their day. Headaches are common from insufficient of oxygen to the brain, and also a lack of attention span plagues the victim. Snoring is a big part of sleep apnea, and it is one of the most common signs that one might have this condition. While sleeping on their side may help with the snoring it is not cure. Weight loss is also hindered by this condition as the body cannot properly digest while sleep is disrupted, and this only ...
Sleep apnea is a very serious disorder because you can easily die from it because you totally stop breathing. The pause in breathing usually last only a few seconds but can happen 30 or more times in an hour. When breathing will resume in usually results in a snore or a choking sound. People with sleep apnea are usually tired more than most throughout the day because when they start to snore or have pauses in their breathing they move out of a deep sleep and into a light sleep. Sleep apnea is very hard for doctors to diagnose because it only happens when you are asleep. The only way to become aware of your sleep apnea is usually by a family member or a spouse who notices you snoring or have pauses when you are asleep. One of the most common types of sleep apnea is called obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is when your airway is blocked during sleep resulting in pauses of breath. This is most common in people who are overweight but doesn 't have to be. If sleep apnea goes untreated the consequences can be very dangerous. It could increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, and diabetes. The four known ways to cure sleep apnea is lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, breathing devices, and
Hoffstein, Victor and Linde, Shirley. No More Snoring. John Wiley & Sons, Inc: Canada, 1999.
In order to make ones’ health care coverage more affordable, the nation needs to address the continually increasing medical care costs. Approximately more than one-sixth of the United States economy is devoted to health care spending, such as: soaring prices for medical services, costly prescription drugs, newly advanced medical technology, and even unhealthy lifestyles. Our system is spending approximately $2.7 trillion annually on health care. According to experts, it is estimated that approximately 20%-30% of that spending (approx. $800 billion a year) appears to go towards wasteful, redundant, or even inefficient care.
Despite the established health care facilities in the United States, most citizens do not have access to proper medical care. We must appreciate from the very onset that a healthy and strong nation must have a proper health care system. Such a health system should be available and affordable to all. The cost of health services is high. In fact, the ...
Snoring is a common disorder that affects millions of people around the world. Even though normal snoring is not dangerous to human health, having repeated breathing stops during the snoring process can be life threatening to the snorer. According to the American Heart Association (2012) study, having repeated breathing stops during the snoring process is dangerous and can result in the development of cardiovascular problems and even death. This condition is known as sleep apnea. In this respect, an individual with sleep apnea experiences repeated breathing stops for as many as thirty times an hour when asleep. Such episodes are dangerous for the snorer since it increases the risk of developing heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, and arrhythmias. Research shows that one in every five people suffers from sleep apnea. America, in particular, has one of the highest incidences of people with this disease. According to Lettieri (2010), about 15 million adults suffer from obstructive sleep apnea in America. The majority of people with sleep apnea are patients with cardiovascular problems and hypertension. As earlier mentioned, this condition is life threatening and require early treatment. This document will examine the historical evidence of the disease, its causes, and its clinical effects on the cardiovascular system, complications, and prognosis. The discourse will also explore the treatments and research associated with the disease.
The discrepancy in providing care has a negative impact in our communities. In my opinion, the U.S. lags behind in providing quality healthcare access to all. In the context of delivery, “our healthcare system continues to emphasize care that occurs after an illness occurs, rather than preventive services that could have reduced the burden of disease…” (McHenry, 2012, p. 27). Due to poverty, lack of access and the means to purchase health insurance, individuals choose
Thankful none of my friends snore quite as loud as my dad, but, even so, the strident sound is incredibly bothersome. In particular, my best friend, Agata, has a habit of snoring. Her sounds aren’t noisy enough to wake me up in the middle of the night, but if she happens to falls asleep before me, I have a lot of trouble getting to bed. I don’t want to be rude and wake her up, but sometimes I have to, if I want to actually sleep the night. What I can’t stand about snoring is its unrelenting nature. Besides being loud and insufferable, once I am awakened from the sound of snores, it is just about impossible for me to fall back asleep. The continuous and grating sound that snoring produces is not dissimilar to that of a ticking clock or a faucet dripping water, but of course, only much louder. Once I start to hear someone snoring, it is impossible for me not to count the beats in between each snore and anticipate the next one.
In the U.S. 6.2% of people fail to obtain needed medical care due to cost ("Centers for disease control and prevention"). The U.S. has a population of 317 million citizens. This means that almost 20 million individuals in the U.S. cannot afford access to healthcare. This paper is going to focus on how the U.S. has an expensive access to healthcare which makes it very difficult for many U.S. citizens to afford medical treatment. Difficult access to healthcare is happening all over the United States. The people getting involved are many middle to low class U.S. Citizens including little children. This topic is important because access to health services means the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health outcomes. Access to healthcare can affect: overall physical, social, and mental health status, prevention of disease and disability, detection and treatment of health conditions, quality of life, preventable death and life expectancy ("Healthy people"). Expensive access to healthcare can make it more difficult even for you to afford any of these medical treatments! This paper is going to concentrate primarily on this question: what effect has expensive access to healthcare had on U.S. citizens?
Health care access today is an issue in the United States because many people do not have the access to it or better coverage. I focused on answering the question, should everyone in the United States be provided with better access to health care? According to Maria Barry-Jester (reports on public health, food and culture for FiveThirtyEight) About 32 million people in the United States don’t have access to health care (2014). And about 101,000 people die each year due to the way healthcare is organized. This essay will view why the US should provide better health care, why it shouldn’t and why I believe it should.
The American population is greatly affected by the high cost of medical care in several ways. When compared to eighteen other countries, the United States is ranked last on the list for preventing deaths caused by treatable illness. This is because of the high cost of medical care preventing people from seeking professional attention on what could be a minor health issue (Hiebert-White, 1). The