EnergyMD Podcast Is Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome Causing Your Sleep Issue? with Jonathan Kiel Jensen - #148
Feb 5, 2025
Jonathan Kiel Jensen, a dedicated patient advocate specializing in Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS), shares his transformative journey from chronic fatigue to empowerment. He highlights how subtle anatomical factors can lead to sleep issues, distinguishing UARS from obstructive sleep apnea. The discussion covers the importance of comprehensive sleep studies, lifestyle impacts on airway health, and innovative treatment approaches like nasal breathing techniques. Additionally, Jonathan emphasizes the critical role of childhood jaw development and its connection to modern lifestyle factors.
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Jonathan's UARS Diagnosis Journey
- Jonathan Kiel Jensen struggled with fatigue and unrefreshing sleep before discovering UARS as his diagnosis after in-lab sleep testing in Germany.
- His initial home sleep apnea test showed no apnea, prompting deeper investigation into subtle sleep disorder breathing issues.
Limitations of At-Home Sleep Tests
- At-home sleep studies often fail to detect UARS because they only measure apnea based on oxygen desaturation and breath-holding over 10 seconds.
- UARS involves brief airway obstructions causing micro-arousals without oxygen desaturation, leading to unscored disturbances that disrupt sleep.
Arousal Index and Toxicity Impact
- UARS severity depends not only on airway size but also on the individual's sensitivity to waking (arousal index).
- Nervous system dysfunction from toxins can heighten arousal, causing frequent awakenings even with small airway obstruction.