In the last three issues I ad dressed the fact that controlling chronic inflammation can not only radically improve your health and slow aging, but literally save your life.We covered some foods and habits that create this condition. Then we covered foods and habits that fight this condition. In December’s issue we looked at how your lifestyle contributes to this problem and suggestions were given to guide you in addressing these problems.
In past decades the importance of good sleep and enough sleep never seemed to be a very significant part of the equation. Now that science has been able to establish how our body chemistry is influenced by our mental health as well as our physical health, those of us who treasure life can no longer think that a perfect diet, super supplementation and physical fitness is all we need.
Our emotional and neurological needs must be under control as well. We all know how stress can affect our sleep. How many of us know how we can personally take part in controlling our emotions.
Dina Colman, a local author, just released her book, Four Quadrant Living. In it Dina has many wonderful suggestions on methods to de-stress and finding inner peace. Simply identifying the cause of an emotional hang up can defuse it. Most importantly she emphasizes the need for balance, not only within us, but within our environment as well.
Having majored in Physiology in college, it has helped me to understand the chemistry controlling all of our body functions, not only how we screw it up, but what can we do to bring it back.
Very simply stated: emotions can cause stress which causes the fight or flight response in our adrenal gland which can strongly affect digestion, hormone balance and sleep. Improper digestion causes malnutrition and discomfort.
There are many factors that can affect sleep, the most common being stress, hormone imbalance and obstructive sleep apnea. The first two can be temporary and may just go away or can be treated.
OSA doesn’t go away and must be treated. To neglect treating OSA will likely lead to chronic inflammation and its horrible results which can include heart disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Children are not exempt from this challenge. Everyone needs proper sleep. Snoring in children has recently been determined to be a condition that must not be ignored.
Nasal breathing in ones sleep has been found to be so important that the researchers in this area are taping their mouths shut, yet many of our children are nocturnal mouth breathers. These subtle little things can have a large impact on the physical and mental development of the child. They have been proven to create cognitive problems in adults as well.
In my Dental Sleep Medicine practice there is much more to treating OSA than merely giving the patient an appliance. In children, many that suffer OSA do so because of an underdeveloped lower jaw. The sleep appliance of choice in this case not only helps to correct the obstruction, but stimulates more development of the lower jaw, hopefully to grow the jaw enough to correct that obstruction.
I use an Acoustic Pharyngometer to identify the obstruction and determine if jaw repositioning can lessen or eliminate the obstruction. An Acoustic Rhinometer may be used to identify nasal obstructions. The nasal obstruction is treated by an ENT doctor.
Hopefully ideal nocturnal breathing habits can be established. I do request a follow up sleep study to prove the goal has been achieved. Over the counter or quickly fabricated dental appliances should be avoided.
In the above example of the domino effect experienced by emotional problems resulting in physical problems we can begin to understand the importance understanding the intricate relationships that must be accounted for. Just like a large vehicle can be paralyzed by a small wire becoming disconnected, not dealing with an emotional problem or sleeping problem can have a similar result on one’s body.
Becoming more and more knowledgeable and informed about what makes us “tick” and taking care to make sure it’s “ticking” right is a big part of being rewarded with a great life.
Robert Brown, DDS has a TMJ, orthodontia, and sleep apnea practice in Danville and thoroughly enjoys discussing holistic medicine. You can contact him at 925-837-8048, at info@aodtc.com, or visit his web site at www.aodtc.com.
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