TMJ Therapy And Sleep Center of Colorado

Sleep Apnea, Asthma Closely Linked: Study

blogger — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:01:23 +0000

Just about anyone can develop obstructive sleep apnea, whether they’re young, old, male or female. With that being said, certain people are more likely to suffer from this dangerous disorder. We already know that overweight people are more likely to develop OSA. Now, new research indicates that asthmatic people may also be at greater risk.

A Strong Association

Research appearing in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM) shows a major link between obstructive sleep apnea and asthma. Conducted at the University of Wisconsin, the study looked closer at older data from 1988 NIH research which was based on 1,500 participants. In the end, researchers saw that subjects who suffered from asthma were 1.7 times more likely to develop sleep apnea after eight years. The risk was even higher (2.3 times) for subjects who developed asthma early in their childhood.

According to the experts who conducted this study, the longer someone suffers from asthma, the more likely he or she will develop sleep apnea; in fact, they said the risk jumps by 10 percent for every five years a person lives with asthma.

Assessing Your Own Risk

According to this new research, if you have ever suffered from asthma, you are more likely to also suffer from sleep apnea. That said, virtually anyone can develop this dangerous disorder; and many people suffer from OSA without even knowing they have a problem.

If you have trouble breathing at night, wake frequently, snore or experience daytime fatigue; you may have sleep apnea. If so, you need an effective OSA treatment that will provide a clear airway during sleep.

A mountain of research has linked sleep apnea to some troubling medical issues. To maintain good health and enjoy a higher quality of life, contact Dr. Berry to learn how a simple oral sleep appliance can alleviate your OSA symptoms.

NSAIDs Double Risk of Heart Failure: Research

blogger — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:20:11 +0000

Numerous people take ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to relieve unrelenting pain. Sadly, these drugs only offer short-term relief. Additionally, a new study indicates that they also increase the risk of heart problems when taken for extended periods of time.

Deadly Heart Attacks

Routinely used to treat acute and chronic pain, NSAIDs are known for causing gastrointestinal bleeding. Now, new research suggests they can also dramatically increase a person’s risk of serious heart problems. Appearing in The Lancet, the study centered on data associated with more than 350,000 patients who had all taken some type of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug for more than 12 months. After looking at patient medical records, researchers found that a large portion of these patients suffered what they called “avoidable heart attacks.” In fact, so many experienced problems; the researchers determined that the NSAIDs doubled each user’s risk of heart failure.

Wake Up Call for TMD Sufferers

Since they typically endure some form of chronic pain, TMD sufferers often rely on common pain relievers to get through the day. According to this new research, this could put them at risk for heart failure. Ultimately, since NSAIDs provide only temporary pain relief, they aren’t the ideal way to treat temporomandibular joint disorder. Additionally, it’s clear that they come with some serious risks that may outweigh whatever benefits they offer.

A Safer, Smarter Approach

TMJ disorder doesn’t have to be a lifelong problem. Usually caused by a misaligned bite, temporomandibular joint disorder is treatable. By providing a treatment strategy which targets the root cause of TMD, Dr. Berry offers his patients lasting relief from chewing difficulties, headaches, jaw popping, pain and other symptoms related to TMJ disorder.

Why put your health at risk just for a couple of hours of pain relief, when you can get safe, non-medicinal TMD relief? Contact Dr. Berry’s office today to learn more.

Study: Lingering Pain Ups Suicide Risk

blogger — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 23:34:16 +0000

New research indicates that people are at a higher suicide risk when they suffer from unrelenting pain, especially when they don’t know the cause of their symptoms.

Published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, the study was based on data associated with nearly 5 million subjects who’d been treated in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. After pouring over patient records, researchers determined that suicide risk appeared to spike when doctors couldn’t clearly identify the cause of pain.

Not All Pain the Same

While chronic pain appears to be linked to higher suicide rates; it is especially troublesome when the causes are elusive. In fact, researchers only noticed big spikes in suicide risk, when patients and physicians couldn’t determine a cause. Ultimately, without identifying a cause, physicians weren’t able to prescribe effective treatments, forcing patients to either live with their symptoms or take other drastic measures.

What if You Have TMJ Disorder?

When people suffer from TMJ disorder, they can experience all sorts of confusing symptoms that seem to have no source cause. This may lead them to think they have some other mysterious problem, when they really have temporomandibular joint disorder.

Getting Help

If you experience chewing difficulties, jaw popping, tinnitus, facial tenderness, headaches and/or pain, you could have TMJ disorder. Fortunately, Dr. Berry can offer you a professional assessment which will determine if you have this debilitating condition. If he sees that you do have TMD, Dr. Berry can offer an effective TMJ treatment strategy that will provide lasting relief.

Chronic pain significantly reduces a person’s quality of life; so much, in fact, it causes many to end their lives prematurely. Don’t let TMJ disorder make your life unbearable; contact Dr. Berry’s office to learn how a targeted treatment plan can make a huge difference in your life.

Study Points Toward New Generation of Sleep Aids

blogger — Fri, 31 May 2013 21:07:18 +0000

Numerous people suffer from sleep problems which leave them feeling tired throughout the day. To promote better sleep, some use products which emit white noise to help create a more peaceful environment. Now, new research indicates that we may be better off switching out these devices for machines that replicate our brain activity during sleep.

Mimicking Brain Patterns

Research out of the University of Tubingen in Germany indicates that we may be able to recording our brain rhythms during sleep and playing them back when we want to feel drowsy. Appearing in the journal Neuron, the study involved 11 subjects, who allowed researchers to copy their brains’ electrical patterns during sleep. Afterward, the researchers replayed the patterns for the subjects to see if they might sleep more soundly. In the end, they found that all of the subjects fell asleep much more quickly; they also enjoyed better memory retention, thanks to fewer disturbances and greater levels of REM sleep.

Big Interest

According to the team of researchers who conducted this study, this new potential remedy for insomnia could be especially attractive, since it seems to offer a safe solution for sleeping difficulties. In fact, they predicted that companies would soon begin marketing devices that replicate their study to create a new generation of safe, effective sleep aids.

What if You Have Sleep Apnea

Futuristic sleep aids may hold big promise for traditional insomniacs; however, they won;t bring relief to the millions of Americans who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Because it causes breathing difficulties which awaken sleepers during the night, this serious disorder demands a targeted treatment which creates a clear airway.

If you suffer from OSA, don’t expect to get help from machines, mattresses, pillows, pills or any product which claims to promote drowsiness. Instead, contact Dr. Berry to find out how a simple oral sleep appliance can give you permanent relief from OSA.

Can Exercises and Dietary Strategies Cure TMD?

blogger — Tue, 28 May 2013 22:06:17 +0000

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) can make life miserable by causing all sorts of unpleasant, debilitating symptoms. To cope, many sufferers lean heavily on pain medications which offer only short-term relief, while also causing some troubling potential side-effects. In search of non-medicinal TMD relief, some sufferers are willing to try anything; and some people have positioned themselves to take monetary advantage.

False Hope

Plenty of opportunistic entrepreneurs offer false hope to TMD sufferers. While some provide oral supplements which they market as cures for TMJ disorder; others provide questionable advice.

Author Sandra Carter recently issued a press release promoting her self-help book, “TMJ No More.” Within this book, Carter supposedly offers advice on how TMD sufferers can use exercises and dietary strategies to cure their disorders; in fact, the tricks and tactics are supposed to work so well, she says readers can expect to see results within 12 hours.

Getting Real About TMJ Disorder

Temporomandibular joint disorder isn’t some minor condition that will go away 12 hours after reading a self-help book; it’s a serious, debilitating disorder with a central, physical cause. To get real, lasting relief from TMD, patients need an actual treatment that will address the root source of the problem: a bad or misaligned bite. Exercises and dietary strategies aren’t going to provide much help to TMD sufferers, because they do nothing to repair the root cause of this serious disorder.

Forget all the Hokum

If you suffer from TMJ disorder, you will not find relief from fad products and other gimmicks which make bold, unsubstantiated claims. On the other hand, Dr. Berry offers his patients effective, permanent relief from TMD symptoms by providing a targeted treatment strategy that corrects their misaligned bites. To learn more, contact his office today.

Genetic Traits May Promote Chronic Pain: Study

blogger — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:54:35 +0000

Countless Americans suffer from some type of chronic pain, which makes day-to-day life virtually intolerable. In many instances, medical practitioners are able to identify the cause of unrelenting pain; however, in some cases, the causes remain unclear. When patients complain about vague pain, they’re often looked at with suspicion, especially when they request pain medications to help relieve their symptoms. That said, according to new research, many of these people are actually enduring very real persistent pain related to genetic influences which control the brain’s reaction to stressful events.

The Hypothalamic-pituitary Adrenal (HPA) Axis

A study out of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine suggests that genetic traits have the power to promote chronic pain in certain individuals, even when there’s no physical reason for their symptoms. Published in the journal Pain, the research found that traumatic or stressful events can cause certain people to develop persistent pain long after they’ve experienced an event.

According to researchers, variations in the gene encoding for the protein FKBP5 can negatively influence the body’s HPA axis. Ultimately, this appears to cause a problem with the body’s flight or fight response system, resulting in unrelenting pain, which appears to have no central cause.

Cause Equals Treatments

Sadly, many people are forced to live with chronic pain, because medical practitioners aren’t able to target a cause and prescribe an effective treatment. That said, if you suffer from temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), your future is not so bleak.

Because it causes a variety of seemingly unrelated symptoms, TMD can make people think they are suffering from all sorts of different ailments; however, invariably, temporomandibular joint disorder always traces back to one source cause: a misaligned bite.

If you suffer from facial tenderness, jaw pain, chewing difficulties, intense headaches, jaw popping and/or tinnitus, you may have TMD. If so, Dr. Berry can offer lasting relief that will permanently cure your TMD symptoms. To learn more, contact his office today.

Sleep Deprivation Can Cost You Money: Study

blogger — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:28:13 +0000

It’s no mystery that deep, restorative sleep promotes better physical and mental performance. Now, a new study indicates that a good night’s sleep can also make us more financial secure.

Poor Decision Making

The Medical News Today recently published new research which indicates that inadequate sleep leads people into making poor financial choices. Conducted by researchers at Duke University, the study demonstrated that sleep deprivation can impair our risk assessment powers by causing our brains to fixate on potentially positive outcomes, while ignoring negative implications.

According to the researchers, their study is consistent with past research, which was compelling enough to prompt Las Vegas casinos to install strategies that encourage players to gamble while fatigued. Sadly, however, insufficient sleep isn’t just a problem at the roulette wheel. When sleep deprivation impairs our judgment, we are more prone to making financial mistakes that can put us in debt; we may also make errors on the job, which could result in reprimands or even pink slips.

More Concern for Sleep Apneics

Because it causes breathing problems which promote frequent waking, sleep apnea keeps people from enjoying long periods of deep, restorative REM sleep. Research indicates that these sleep difficulties can leave us more susceptible to accidents, health issues and financial problems as well. Fortunately, Dr. Berry offers his patients a simple sleep apnea remedy that lets them sleep comfortably without the annoying symptoms associated with this dangerous disorder.

Make that Call

If you’ve been living with sleep apnea, it’s time to recognize what’s happening to your mind and body. By negatively impacting your safety, health and finances, this disorder can permanently change or even shorten your life.

Don’t spend night after night struggling to stay asleep, when an oral appliance can help you breathe clearly all night long. To learn more, contact Dr. Berry’s office today.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Puts Drivers at Risk: Study

blogger — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:54:35 +0000

Linked with a host of serious medical problems, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is well-known for putting people in harm’s way. Now, new research suggests that it can shorten lives in another way: by putting people at a higher risk for deadly automobile accidents.

Impaired Driving

Researchers at the University Hospital in Leeds, England, recently conducted a pair of studies that demonstrated just how deadly sleep deprivation can be when drivers are behind the wheel. In one study, they pitted 133 sleep apneics against 89 healthy sleepers in simulated driving tests meant to gauge driving ability. After navigating over 50 miles of faux streets and highways, drivers were scored based on completion time, swerving and crashes. Ultimately, twice as many sleep apneics failed the test, with an even higher number having difficulty following simple directions given out at the start of the test.

In a second study, the researchers surveyed 118 people who had untreated OSA and 69 people who did not. After reviewing their answers, the researchers noted that 35 percent of sleep apneics admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel, compared to only 11 percent from the healthy group.

A Big Issue

According to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 20 percent of all auto accidents occur due to tiredness and fatigue. Many times these drivers are sleep apneics, who suffer from long-term sleep deprivation, thanks to breathing disruptions which keep them from sleeping through the night. Sadly, when they climb behind the wheel while impaired, sleep apneics put other drivers at risk, leaving themselves exposed to civil lawsuits and guilt associated with causing harm to others.

You Can’t Go Back

If you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, you are at risk. A mountain of research has shown that this dangerous disorder leaves sufferers at a higher risk for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, dementia and accidents. Once these things occur, no amount of wishing will make them go away. That said, you can prevent these potential tragedies by seeking help for your problem before it’s too late.

Contact Dr. Berry to learn about a simple treatment for obstructive sleep apnea which provides an unobstructed airway, so you can breathe clearly and sleep well every single night.

What’s Really Causing Your Headaches?

blogger — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:41:01 +0000

Millions of Americans suffer from migraines headaches, which make it difficult for them to function both socially and professionally. To minimize migraine occurrence, doctors tell patients to avoid so-called triggers, which appear to increase the risk of these debilitating headaches. Unfortunately, according to a recent study, migraine sufferers tend to have serious difficulties identifying their individual triggers, thanks to an assortment of ever-changing variables which muddy each particular situation.

Identifying the Causes

A study out of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center suggests that it may be unrealistic for migraine sufferers to clearly identify what’s actually causing their headaches. Traditionally, physicians tell patients to identify potential headache triggers by keeping journals, which maintain a record of diet, physical activity and other daily events. Unfortunately, this recent Wake Forest study suggests that this strategy is flawed.

According to the researchers, their study suggests that ever-changing daily fluctuations – such as physical activity, stress, hormone levels and even weather – make it impossible for sufferers to clearly identify the causes of their headaches. In fact, they estimated that a valid self-evaluation would require such ideally perfect conditions; it would only be likely to occur once every two years.

Is it a Migraine?

Confusing and unpredictable, migraine headaches can occur for a variety of reasons, based on each person’s individual genetics. Some people get migraines after eating chocolate; while others get them after strenuous physical activity. What’s more, some people think they’re having migraines, when they are exactly experiencing debilitating migraine-like headaches related to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD).

A Professional Evaluation

If your headaches are combined with jaw popping, jaw pain, facial tenderness or chewing difficulties, they may be a product of TMD. If this is the case, an effective TMD treatment will eliminate your headaches in addition to any other symptoms related to this disorder of the jaw.

As the Wake Forest study clearly demonstrates, self-evaluation is a poor strategy when it comes to headache prevention. For a professional evaluation, contact Dr. Berry’s office today. By examining your jaw and evaluating your symptoms, he can determine whether or not you have TMD. To learn more, contact his office today.

Sleep Difficulties Linked to Brain Problems: Study

blogger — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:33:49 +0000

A mountain of research has shown that sleep deprivation can have a significant effect on our health. By increasing the risk for diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease, insufficient sleep can shorten lives. Just as worrisome, more and more studies are showing that sleep difficulties can also harm our brains by promoting serious degenerative problems.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Research out of the Washington University School of Medicine indicates that insufficient sleep can cause beta-amyloid proteins to accumulate in our brains. Widely considered a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease, this type of buildup can only be detected through cerebral spinal fluid analysis. In conducting their study, the researchers looked at 140 subjects who showed no signs of cognitive difficulties. After analyzing each participant’s sleeping habits for two weeks, the researchers then analyzed all of the subjects’ spinal fluid. Ultimately, they noticed substantial beta-amyloid protein buildup in participants who slept poorly.

What if You Have Sleep Apnea?

Most people associate poor sleep with brief seep durations; however, many times, poor sleep is characterized by frequent waking. This is very common among people who suffer from sleep apnea, because they are often disturbed by breathing difficulties that jolt them awake or promote shallow, unrestorative sleep. Since they rarely enjoy long periods of uninterrupted sleep, these people often endure daytime drowsiness, chronic fatigue and an increased risk of serious medical problems.

A Serious Issue

If you are a sleep apneic; make no mistake, your long-term health is at risk. Study after study has shown that this serious disorder can impact our bodies and minds in terrifying ways.

Fortunately, you can drastically enhance your chances of enjoying a long, healthy life by reaching out for help. Dr. Berry offers his patients sleep apnea relief by providing oral sleep appliances that create a clear airway. To learn more, contact his office today.