Why Only Humans Have Sleep Apnea

Podcast #001 Show Notes

  Welcome to the relaunching of my Breathe Better, Sleep Better, Live Better podcast. In this episode, I will reveal:   1. Why only humans have sleep apnea 2. How you can choke and die 3. 5 simple things you can do to sleep better tonight.   Download the PDF of the slides here. Download the MP3 file here.   Acronym for obstructive sleep apnea: MOOSE   Male Older Overweight Snoring Excessive Sleepiness.   4 Evolutionary / Anatomic Changes:   1. Klinorynchy 2. Anterior Migration of the Foramen Magnum 3. Laryngeal descent and loss of epiglottic and soft palate lockup 4. Vertical descent of the larynx.   As a result of complex speech and language development, only humans can choke and die.   3 Dental Concepts   1. Transition to soft, processed foods lead to dental crowding and malocclusion 2. Eating soft vs. hard foods and aggravate dental crowding 3. Bottle-feeding can cause dental crowding and crooked teeth.   Changes in our eating and infant feeding habits created more dental crowding and more narrow airways.   All these concepts are described in more detail in my book, Sleep Interrupted: A physician reveals the #1 reason why so many of us are sick and tired.   Facial profiling. Younger people have more triangular jaws and flatter faces.   If our brains get bigger and our jaws get smaller, what will we look like in 50,000 years?   Sleep-breathing continuum. All chronic health conditions can be directly or indirectly connected to poor breathing and poor sleep.   Conventional treatment options for obstructive sleep apnea:   1. Conservative 2. CPAP 3. Dental appliances 4. Surgery.   Other options:    1. Acupuncture 2. Oral exercises 3. Didgeridoo 4. Provent 5. Winx 6. Tongue nerve stimulation / pacemaker 7. Functional dental appliances.   5 Practical Tips to Sleep Better Today   1. Avoid eating or drinking alcohol late 2. Improve nasal breathing 3. Adjust head position to improve the airway 4. Avoid migraine triggers 5. Practice relaxation / deep breathing techniques.   Reader Question: Dry mouth after starting CPAP. What to do?   Sleep Tip of the Day: How blue light can ruin your sleep and what you can do about it.   Resources mentioned in podcast:   Dr. Brian Palmer's website Dr. Weston Price: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration     Subscribe in iTunes @ doctorstevenpark.com/itunes. Thanks for reviewing my podcast and rating me.   Download the PDF of the slides.          

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