Posted on 12/20/2004 12:59:29 PM PST by Red Badger
Doctors in Norway say they have invented a cure for snoring.
The cure involves stiffening the palate to stop the vibrations that cause snoring.
The process involves inserting three tiny threads made from Dacron - a tough polymer used in the clothing industry - into the soft palate. The whole procedure last two minutes and is performed under local anaesthetic.
Doctors at St Olav's Hospital in Trondheim pioneered the procedure in conjuction with an American company.
Norway put snoring on the political agenda earlier this year after offshore oil workers complained of roommates keeping them awake at night.
The problem made national news after a member of parliament wrote to labour minister Victor Norman demanding that something be done to help the sleep-deprived workers.
"That really gave us the impetus to find a solution although our research programme was already well underway" said Dr Staale Nordgaard.
"Several dozen people have had the procedure. Eighty per cent of patients and 70 per cent of their partnerss say they are satisfied. It is a lot less drastic than some of the remedies on the medical market. It hurts less and leaves no scar."
Already approved in the United States, the new method is expected to receive the green light from European authorities in the coming months, he said.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and snoring are caused by an obstruction of the airway, when tissues in the mouth or throat vibrate. A major contributor to OSA and snoring is the soft palate tissue.
Studies suggest that more than 70 per cent of all sleep apnea and snoring involve the soft palate.
Suffocation also stops snoring for good.
My husband is scheduled to have this procedure, once his new doctor gets his old medical records. I can't wait, I haven't had a good night's sleep with him for 5 years.
Have you considered putting a plastic bag over your head?
</joke joke joke warning will robinson joke joke joke>
That's not bad, I guess. Actually, it seems a little low to me, but I don't know what the normal satisfaction rating is. What does a very well received procedure normally get for a satisfaction score? Hard to evaluate the numbers without that info, which of course isn't provided.
I've heard peanut butter on the roof of the mouth does, too......
If you can't sleep, then try doing other things in the bed.....
Thought I'd read this quick before my wife staples a copy of it to my forehead...
Save for later....since I spend most of my nights in the snore room.
Peanut butter gets gum out of your hair, too, from what I've heard.
That's after you fall asleep with it in your mouth.......My kid did that one night.......What a MESS!......
Snoring is the reason you keep the guest bedroom bed always made up.
LOL!
I don't like sleeping there......
A Perfect Husband.
Paging the Snore Monster.... Ping.
Fine,
I'll sleep there.
I just can't sleep with a snorer (thrasher, kicker, farter or cover-hog either).
Bump for later surgery. My snoring scares my cat.
Anyone who snores should do a sleep study. My snoring has been cured curtailed by using a CPAP machine.
If this surgery will let me go to bed without looking like a refugee from a bad Sci-fi flick, I'll consider it.
We keep a lousy mattress in the guest bed so that the "guests" don't want to stay Too long..........
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