Treating Sleep Apnea Pays Off at Work, Study Finds

THURSDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- Treating sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder, boosts people's productivity at work, according to a new study.

Sleep apnea interrupts breathing during sleep, causing people with the condition to wake up throughout the night. Previous research has shown that people with sleep apnea are less productive at work, usually because of excessive daytime sleepiness.

The new study looked at whether using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) during sleep improved the participants' productivity. With CPAP, a patient wears a mask connected to a machine that sends pressurized air into the throat to keep the airway open throughout the night.

The study included 45 people, aged 40 to 56, with sleep apnea who completed questionnaires before and after three months of CPAP treatment.

The 35 patients who closely followed the treatment program had significant improvements in their daytime sleepiness levels and in their work productivity, but this was not the case for the 10 patients who did not follow the treatment program, the investigators found.

The study was scheduled for presentation Thursday at a meeting of the European Respiratory Society and the European Sleep Research Society in Berlin, Germany.

"Continuous positive airway pressure is the gold standard treatment for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea," study lead author Dr. Evangelia Nena said in a European Lung Foundation news release. "Previous research has shown the potential benefits of CPAP to patients' health and quality of life, and our findings add to this body of evidence, demonstrating the advantages the treatment can have on productivity at work."

Data and conclusions of research presented at meetings typically are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: European Lung Foundation, news release, April 10, 2013

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Yoga shown effective for treating chronic neck pain

Nov. 27, 2012 — According to published estimates, some 20 percent of the population suffers from chronic neck pain caused by a variety of structural dysfunctions in the neck, resulting in impaired quality of life and lost work time. A German study published in The Journal of Pain showed that yoga appears to be an effective treatment for neck pain and provides added benefits of improved psychological well being and quality of life.

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The Journal of Pain is the per-review publication of the American Pain Society.

The mainstay of conservative treatment for neck pain is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, and the evidence of its effectiveness is contradictory while side effects, such as nausea and dizziness, are well known. The authors noted that one type of yoga, called lyengar yoga, has been shown effective in other pain syndromes, including low back pain. This activity uses supportive props and the sequences of postures can be tailored to address an individual's medical problem. No randomized controlled clinical trials have been published to assess the efficacy of lyengar yoga for adults with chronic neck pain.

Researchers at Charité-University Medical Center in Berlin and other sites in Germany and Austria studied 77 volunteer patients. Thirty-eight were assigned to the yoga group and 39 to a group treated with exercise. Unfortunately, the dropout rate was higher than anticipated as 24 subjects withdrew or were lost to follow-up. This reduced the study sample to 25 patients in the yoga group and 28 in self-care exercise. They were asked to complete a standardized questionnaire at the outset of the study, after four weeks, and after ten weeks.

The findings showed there was a significant and clinically important reduction in pain intensity in the yoga group. The authors reasoned that yoga might enhance both the toning of muscles and releasing of muscle tension. Relaxation responses, therefore, could reduce stress related muscle tension and modify neurobiological pain perception. They concluded, based on the study data, that lyengar yoga can be a safe and effective treatment option for chronic neck pain. The study results are consistent with the demonstrated benefits of yoga for treating low back pain.

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