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Article: Sleep apnea & Chinese medicine. (Chinese Medicine Update).
- Article from:
- Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
- Article date:
- February 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Townsend Letter Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Keywords: Chinese medicine, acupuncture, sleep apnea
Definition & nosology: Apnea comes from the Greek, a meaning "no," pnea meaning "breathing." Therefore, apnea means "no breathing." Sleep apnea (SA) refers to recurrent cessation of breathing during sleep, each cessation lasting more than 10 seconds and sometimes more than a minute. It was first identified as a medical condition in 1965. This cessation in breathing during sleep may be due to mechanical causes leading to blockage of the airway. This is called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and occurs when the soft tissue at the back of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. It may also be caused by failure ...