Is too much sleep harmful for health?

The amount of sleep that a person needs is dependent on a number of factors. First, his or her age. Babies, for instance, tend to sleep many hours in day. Second, the amount of aerobic activities that he or she does in the daytime. Odd job labourers and sportsmen tend to sleep more hours and have more deep sleep at night. Third, there are also individual variations in that some individuals may require more hours of sleep to feel refreshed.

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Answered By

Dr Beng Yeong Ng

Psychiatrist

Will a Chin Strap device help with my snoring issues and sinus?

Thanks for the D2D. The reason why you might “automatically” open your mouth at night is because your nose is blocked, hence it’s a survival instinct to open your mouth to breathe. Please do not use the Chin Strap until you have seen a sleep specialist or nose doctor who will examine your nose and perhaps shrink your sinus turbinates and/or remove any obvious obstructions in the nasal passages.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Is snoring in an 8 year old child a sign of any sleep disorder?

Hello, Thanks for the D2D. Yes. It is likely that he might have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. He seems like he has stoppages in breathing at night and he might have nose congestion which explains his mouth opening during sleep. Because of the stoppages in breathing at night, his brain does not get enough oxygen at night, hence this affects his daytime concentration, he has a short attention span and poorer memory with poorer academic performance. In children, because of the sympathetic overdrive, they are hyperactive during the day and cannot focus on any task.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

What causes snoring?

Thanks for the D2D. Snoring is due to the excessive soft tissues in the airway, including swollen sinus turbinates, deviated nose septum, swollen adenoids, a thick long floppy palate or uvula, thick side walls of the mouth, and/or a big bulky tongue. A blocked nose will cause the patient to open the mouth to breathe (survival instinct) and this would cause the tongue to fall back further with resultant blockage of the airway. Snoring is the “alarm” for a possible sleep disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Should I seek psychiatric help because of a frightening nightmare?

One out of every two adults has nightmares on occasion. The decision of whether or not to seek help rests on these questions: i) are your nightmare(s) causing you significant distress? ii) are they interrupting your sleep on a regular basis? iii) do you suffer from conditions that may cause nightmares such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep apnoea, chronic sleep deprivation or restless legs syndrome (a strong urge to move one's legs)?

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Answered By

Dr Terence Leong

Psychiatrist

How effective is CPAP as compared to surgery for snoring?

Hello, Thanks for the D2D. This is very discerning of you. Yes. There are a lot of scientific evidence that CPAP is not useful in a real life setting. CPAP is only effective as long as you keep the mask on your face. There are many issues and problems with CPAP, like compliance , mask air leak, inadequate pressures, or even too high pressures. Scientific studies show that CPAP may not be as efficacious as surgery. Weaver et al (2004) compared 18,000 CPAP users and 2,000 OSA patients who had surgery done and followed up for 6 years.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Could high blood pressure and loud snoring in a 40 year old man be due to Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Hello, Thanks for the D2D. Absolutely. You are a fairly young gentleman to have high blood pressure (hypertension). This could be also be due to a strong family history of hypertension, a high salt diet and certainly aggravated by Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Scientific studies have shown that a young gentleman (below 50 years of age) who snores badly and has hypertension, would likely have a 80% chance of having Obstructive Sleep Apnea. It might be wise to see a Sleep specialist.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Is it concerning for an elderly person to sleep more during the daytime?

A condition that came to my mind is that of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is a potentially serious sleep disorder. It causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start during sleep. There are several types of sleep apnea, but the most common is obstructive sleep apnea. This type of apnea occurs when your throat muscles intermittently relax and block your airway during sleep. A noticeable sign of obstructive sleep apnea is snoring. Persons with obstructive sleep apnea may also up sleeping more in the daytime as a result of daytime sleepiness.

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Answered By

Dr Beng Yeong Ng

Psychiatrist

How to tell if my tiredness is due to a body clock disorder?

A circadian rhythm sleep disorder (CRSD) arises when either the person's body clock is disrupted or when it is misaligned to the external environment. This results in an impairment of biological rhythms that affects a person's desired work/study and daily life schedule. typically have disturbed sleep, which can be either (a) Hypersomnia (excessive sleep), which affects their usual daily life, work or studies etc or (b) Insomnia at night, resulting in daytime fatigue. 6 main types of CRSD have been described: i.

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Answered By

Dr Terence Leong

Psychiatrist

What are the available surgical treatments to help stop snoring?

Snoring occurs when the upper airway is either too small, and or too floppy. The upper airway starts at the nose and goes to the back of the throat, behind the tongue base and then into the larynx which leads to the windpipe. If the airway collapses or obstructs during sleep- this may mean that you have obstructive sleep apnoea. The only way to find out if you have obstructive sleep apnoea is to do a sleep study. To effectively treat snoring; you need to accurately identify which levels are obstructed and then treat these obstructions accordingly.

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Human

What could still cause sleepiness during the day even after good compliance using CPAP with AHI < 5?

Thank you for sharing your situation with us. May I offer a few suggestions. Firstly, it will be good to make a distinction between fatigue and sleepiness. For someone who is fatigued or tired, some rest may help. For someone with sleepiness due to insufficient sleep or poor sleep quality at night, then a nap in the afternoon may be useful. Secondly, it will be good to consider the onset of your daytime sleepiness. For many normal individuals, in a 24 hour period, there are two periods where a person will feel especially sleepy.

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Answered By

Dr Beng Yeong Ng

Psychiatrist

Is it true that while sleeptalking people are more honest?

Sleep talking is a sleep disorder known as somniloquy. For people who sleep talk, they are typically not aware of the experience and will not recall it the next day. If you’re a sleep talker, you may talk in full sentences, speak gibberish, or talk in a voice or language different from what you’d use while awake. Sleep talking appears to be harmless, but it may increase in frequency when the person is stressed or anxious [1]. The clinician will ask about abnormal movements and behaviour (e. g. , sleepwalking, REM sleep behaviour disorder) that may accompany sleep.

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Answered By

Dr Beng Yeong Ng

Psychiatrist

What is the difference between excessive daytime sleepiness and fatigue or normal tiredness?

All of us have the experience of feeling tired at times, but roughly 20 to 30% of the population can have excessive daytime sleepiness. The two commonest complaints that cause patients to seek treatment at a Sleep Disorders Clinic are insomnia (not being able to sleep at night) and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). People who have excessive sleepiness feel drowsy and sluggish most days and these symptoms often interfere with their daily functioning. Their work, school, activities, or relationships can be affected by their sleepiness.

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Answered By

Dr Beng Yeong Ng

Psychiatrist

Can frequent sleep talking be a sign of a psychiatric issue?

hello it is most commonly precipitated by a lack of sleep consult your friendly psychiatrist for futrhter evaluation T

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Answered By

Human

Can surgery cure snoring?

Thanks for the D2D. Yes. Snoring is due to an anatomical floppiness of the soft tissue and vibration in the upper airway. Studies have shown that most snoring originates from the vibration of the soft palate, other areas include the side walls of the mouth, the tongue base and / or epiglottis. Snoring can be aggravated by a blocked nose, as this results in mouth breathing and mouth breathing worsens snoring. You would need a sleep specialist to examine your upper airway with a flexible Nasoendoscope.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

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