Sleep Tight, Look Right

So it's true, what we've known all along.  Sleep better, look better.  According to a story at newswise.com, it's not just getting rid of the bags under the eyes (or, in my case, brown puddles), over time it actually has "shown specific improvement in facial appearance after at-home treatment for sleep apnea, a condition marked by snoring and breathing interruptions."

Sleep apnea affects millions of adults – most undiagnosed -- and puts them at higher risk for heart-related problems and daytime accidents. Some people stop breathing as many as 120 times an hour.

Researchers used a sensitive “face mapping” technique usually used by surgeons, and a panel of independent appearance raters, and they "detected changes in 20 middle-aged apnea patients just a few months after they began using a system called CPAP to help them breathe better during sleep and overcome chronic sleepiness."

It stands to reason that if you're getting enough sleep, you're going to feel better, and that usually leads to looking better, too.  My husband, a dentist, is now seeing patients for sleep apnea and they look like different people once they start using CPAP.

Larry has a mild case of sleep apnea as well, and uses one occasionally (you know men!), but it's helped him to wake refreshed in the mornings and he falls asleep a lot less reading the paper, having gotten a good night's sleep the night before.

As for the snoring, I'm still waiting on that.





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