Date Published: February 28, 2021
A national health crisis is stealing your family’s sleep away, one breath at a time. In Airway is Life, Dr. Meghna Dassani, DMD gives you the information you need to spot sleep-disordered breathing and other issues so that you can get the help that you and your family need. Why are all stages of sleep important? What diagnosis might show that sleep is an underlying issue? How can you convince your doctor to prescribe a sleep study? Dr. Dassani’s interesting, accessible work will give you the tools you need to protect your family’s sleep breathing and change their lives.
EXCERPT
What is Sleep, Anyway?
“O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close
In midst of this thine hymn my willing eyes”
—John Keats—
Have you ever sat and watched someone sleep? Perhaps you woke up and looked at your spouse in the middle of the night. Maybe you held a sleeping infant in your arms for hours, looking down at them with love. Or perhaps you’ve been at the bedside of someone who was very sick or in pain and watched them finally let go enough to be able to sleep.
Sleep is weird when we watch other people do it. Sometimes, their faces and bodies are so still that we wonder if they’re even alive. In our more paranoid moments, we may lean close or stick our hand near their face so we can see if they’re still breathing. Sometimes, sleeping people might twitch or grimace. Small children may even have night terrors, where they’re awake and flailing and screaming but not really there.
Sleep has interested, enticed, and confused philosophers and scientists since ancient times. Even today, sleep science is a fairly new medical field. We’re finding out new things about sleep all the time. So, before we get into why our sleep breathing is so important, let’s start with a little background on what we know about sleep—and what science has left to learn.
As we learn about sleep, I’ll also weave in the stories of real people I’ve known and their sleeping issues. (Names and details have been slightly changed to provide anonymity.) You may recognize yourself in some of these people—their stories are important because so many people share them. If one of these stories strikes too close to home, please don’t wait to finish the book. Make a sleep screening appointment today.
About The Author
She has been practicing in Houston, Texas for the last 15 years. She has a passion for providing patients with the highest quality of care that will benefit their overall health. Screening and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in adults and children is an integral part of her practice. Her vision and goal for herself and her team is to help patients with sleep disordered breathing get the treatment they need to live healthier, happier lives.
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