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Tag: brain

  • Snoring…a signal for brain and heart disease

    Snoring…a signal for brain and heart disease

    If you have a habit of snoring each time you fall asleep, chances are high that you have an increased risk of developing a heart disease. Rita Ohai writes.

    SNORTING in your sleep and keeping every other person awake is not only annoying but it also worsen a heart condition and could lead to stroke or do some damage to the brain, say experts.

    A study has found that “heavy snorers are six times more likely to suffer a heart attack while asleep”. It said the risk of heart disease could be increased by blood pressure, and nerve and hormonal changes caused by snoring, and that people who suffer from obstructive sleep or have bad sleeping habits are most at risk

    New research conducted by otolaryngologists at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit finds that snoring is a bigger risk factor for stroke and heart attack than smoking, being overweight, or high cholesterol.

    Explaining this health condition, Dr. Moji Jolayemi stated, “Snoring is a common condition that can affect anyone, although it occurs more frequently in men and people who are overweight. It occurs when the flow of air through the mouth and nose is physically obstructed so that the wind pipe of the person breathing is squeezed. This makes it difficult for to take in air and so they tend to forcefully suck the air in.”

    A team from the University of Detroit looked at the blood vessels in many snorers and found increased thickening of the artery walls, indicating damage already setting in.

    Some suggested that the damage could be due to the trauma and inflammation caused by the vibrations of snoring. However, previous research on the connection between sleep disturbances, also known as apnea, and artery disease has found that the arterial damage comes first, lowering the amount of oxygen in the blood, leading to breathing interruptions.

    Lead scientist in the sleep-related finding, Dr. Robert Deeb said in a statement. “Patients need to seek treatment in the same way they would if they had sleep apnea, high blood pressure or other risk factors for cardiovascular disease as well as stroke.”

    It is also key to point out that many patients who snore are likely to have a heart attack between midnight and 6.00am in the morning compared with patients without the condition.

    They say that the data suggests that most heart attacks usually start in the early hours of the morning while patients sleep or the daylight hours, therefore making the attack unexpected.

    Overall this study confirms and further defines the relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea and heart attack. However, because of the small numbers of patients and the way that they were selected for the study, it is not possible to be completely confident that the strength of the association approaches a six-fold increase in risk.

    While obstructive sleep apnea (which often develops from snoring) has long been known as an indicator of cardiovascular disease, there’s been little evidence up to now to show the damage starts earlier with snoring.

    Their research has serious practical applications because heart disease, particularly artery blockage, is so often detected only after significant permanent damage has been done.

    Paying attention to your snoring habit could lead doctors to order tests sooner and help you get earlier diagnosis and treatment of heart or brain disease.

     

    Habitual snorers can be at risk for serious health problems. These problems show themselves as:

    Long interruptions of breathing (more than 10 seconds) during sleep caused by partial or total obstruction or blockage of the airway.

    Frequent waking from sleep, even though you may not realize it.

    Light sleeping. People with obstructive sleep apnea sleep lightly to try to keep their throat muscles tense enough to maintain airflow.

    Strain on the heart. Prolonged suffering from obstructive sleep apnea often results in higher blood pressure and may cause enlargement of the heart, with higher risks of heart attack and stroke.

    Poor night’s sleep. This leads to drowsiness during the day and can interfere with your quality of life.

     

    Air flow can be obstructed by a combination of factors, including:

    Distorted nasal airways: Some people snore only during allergy seasons or when they have a sinus infection. Deformities of the nose such as a deviated septum (a structural change in the wall that separates one nostril from the other) or nasal polyps can also cause obstruction.

    Poor muscle tone in the throat and tongue: Throat and tongue muscles can be too relaxed, which allows them to collapse and fall back into the airway. This can result from deep sleep, alcohol consumption, and use of some sleeping pills. Normal aging causes further relaxation of these muscles.

    Bulky throat tissue: Being overweight can cause bulky throat tissue. Also, children with large tonsils and adenoids often snore.

    Long soft palate or uvula: When the dangling tissue in back of the mouth is too long, it can narrow the opening from the nose to the throat. When these structures vibrate and bump against one another the airway becomes obstructed, causing snoring.

  • Women’s brain creative and different

    Women’s brain creative and different

    It’s a man’s world. No it isn’t or yes it is. These arguments have existed for so long but one basic truth that we often forget to address is the fact that a woman’s brain is different from her male counterparts. It is therefore better to understand these differences and turn the disadvantages on either sides of the coin to advantages.

    SHE changes every day based on her cycle.

    Affecting up to 80 percent of women, PMS is a familiar scapegoat. But women are affected by their cycles every day of the month. Hormone levels are constantly changing in awoman’s brain and body, changing her outlook, energy and sensitivity along with them.

    About 10 days after the onset of menstruation, right before ovulation, women often feel sassier, Brizendine told LiveScience. Unconsciously, they dress sexier as surges in estrogen and testosterone prompt them to look for sexual opportunities during this particularly fertile period.

    A week later, there is a rise in progesterone, the hormone that mimics valium, making women “feel like cuddling up with a hot cup of tea and a good book,” Brizendine said. The following week, progesterone withdrawal can make women weepy and easily irritated. “We call it crying over dog commercials crying,” Brizendine said.

    She responds to pain and anxiety differently

    Brain-imaging studies over the last 10 years have shown that male and female brains respond differently to pain and fear. And, women’s brains may be the more sensitive of the two.

    The female brain is not only more responsive to small amounts of stress but is less able to habituate to high levels of stress, said Debra Bangasser of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, describing her recent research looking at molecular changes in the brain. Bangasser’s research was conducted in rats but is considered potentially applicable to humans.

    She hates conflict (but lack of response even more)

    Women may also have evolved extra-sensitivity to interpersonal cues as a way to avoid conflict, a state that can feel intolerable to women, according to Brizendine. The flood of chemicals that takes over the female brain during a conflict — especially within an intimate relationship is almost on the same order as a seizure, she explains.

    Possibly because of their overachievement in “mind reading,” women often find blank expressions, or a lack of response, completely unbearable. A young girl will go to great lengths trying to get a response from a mime while a boy will not be nearly so determined, Brizendine said. For females in particular, a negative response may be better than no response at all.

    She is easily turned off

    “A women’s sex drive is much more easily upset than a guy’s,” Brizendine said.

    For women to get in the mood, and especially to have an orgasm, certain areas of her brain have to shut off. And any number of things can turn them back on.

    A woman may refuse a man’s advances because she is angry, feeling distrustful — or even, because her feet are chilly, studies show. Pregnancy, caring for small children and menopause can also take a toll on a woman’s sex drive (although some women experience a renewed interest in sex after The Change.)

    She is affected by pregnant brain

    Progesterone increases 30-fold in the first eight weeks of pregnancy, causing most women to become very sedated, Brizendine said. “Progesterone is a great sleeping pill.”

    A woman’s brain also shrinks during pregnancy, becoming about 4-percent smaller by the time she delivers, according to a 2002 study published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. (Don’t worry; it returns to normal size by six months after delivery.)

    Whether pregnancy causes women to think differently is controversial — one recent study linked memory problems to pregnancy hormones — but some researchers have suggested the changes prepare brain circuits that guide maternal behavior.

    These circuits likely continue to develop after birth. Handling a baby releases maternal hormones, even among females who have never been pregnant, found researchers at Tufts University.

    She is affected by mommy brain

    The physical, hormonal, emotional and social changes facing a woman directly after giving birth can be monumental. “And because everything else has changed, she needs everything else to be as predictable as possible, including the husband,” Brizendine said.

    Over the course of evolution, it was rare for our maternal ancestors to be full-time mothers, said Brizendine, because there was always kin-folk around to help with child rearing. And a mother needs a lot of support, not only for her own sake but for the child’s as well. Her ability to adequately respond to her infant can impact the child’s developing nervous system and temperament, research shows.

    One way Mother Nature tries to help is throughbreastfeeding. Nursing may help women deal with some types of stress, studies suggest. (Too much stress, however, can disrupt lactation.)

    She goes through adolescence twice

    No one wants to go through adolescence again. Its physical changes and hormonal fluctuations not only create mood swings and physical discomfort but nagging questions about self-identity as well.

    Women, however, lucky girls, get to do just that. They go through a “second adolescence” called perimenopause in their 40s. It starts around age 43 and reaches its pinnacle by 47 or 48 years old. (Men’s hormones also change as they age, but not nearly as abruptly.) In addition to erratic periods and night sweats, a woman’s hormones during this transition are so crazed she can be as moody as a teenager.

    The duration of perimenopause varies from two to nine years, with most women leaving it behind by age .

    She loves risk during the mature years

    Once The Change has finished, and the body moves into its “advanced” stage, the female brain gets a second wind. While men start to show increased interest in relationships as they age, the mature woman becomes ready to risk conflict especially if her nest is now empty.

    She may continue to feel motivated to help others, but her focus might shift from her immediate family to local and global communities. She may also feel a strong desire to do more for herself, and her career, after decades of care-taking, explains Brizendine.

    Whether she sows her newly wild oats with whirlwind travel, going back to school, or by playing the field depends on the individual, of course. But for many 50-plus women the twilight years are characterised by an increased “zest” for life and a hearty appetite for adventure.