Va Ptsd And Sleep Apnea

Post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD is a mental health condition initiated by coming into contact with or seeing a distressing event.

Va ptsd and sleep apnea. A medical diagnosis of sleep apnea confirmed by a sleep study in VA medical records or private records sleep study in past 12 months Evidence of a service-connected primary disability such as PTSD depression anxiety sinusitis rhinitis weight gain AND. The Veterans Association and Department of Defense recently released guidelines for managing insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea among patients in their health care system. PTSD is extremely relevant to veterans because of the experiences they have faced in war. Signs of the disorder include loud snoring and frequent interrupted breathing during the nightsomething that can sound like gasping or choking.

1 Flashbacks Bad dreams nightmares Frightening thoughts Avoidance of places thoughts or feelings Increased arousal Being startled easily Feeling tense or on edge Angry outbursts Difficulty sleeping insomnia Poor concentration or attention Memory problems Negative thoughts. Like many other diseases the exact mechanism of the disease development is not known but many diseases are thought to cause sleep apnea and to aggravate sleep apnea including PTSD. Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Comorbid With Mood Disorder. Veterans with PTSD and sleep apnea may be eligible for VA Benefits.

Currently sleep apnea is categorized into three types. Studies are linking PTSD and sleep apnea. Relationship Between Sleep Apnea and PTSD Research shows that veterans with PTSD have a higher risk of developing sleep apnea. I did a quick decision search for a phrase used in some of the prominent articles related to an arousal-based mechanism and it returned a large number of results where VBA found a favorable connection of sleep apnea secondary to PTSD.

Our research shows that 83 of older Veterans with PTSD have at least mild obstructive sleep apnea. Over 50000 deaths occur yearly due to sleep apnea related symptoms or injuries. People with sleep apnea may wake up not feeling rested and struggle with feeling tired or needing to sleep during the daytime. In relation to sleep apnea and PTSD there are plenty of research articles out there connecting them.

Sleep apnea is a breathing problem that disrupts normal sleep. And now new research which looked at Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were being evaluated for PTSD found that 692 percent of those vets are at high risk for sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is common among people with PTSD particularly in Veterans. Obstructive central and mixed.

Remember that in order to be eligible for VA disability compensation a disability or condition you suffer from today must have been caused or. The recommended first-line treatment approach in the VADoD Clinical Practice Guideline CPG for PTSD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia CBT-I when available 21 which is agreeable to the American College of Physicians first-line recommended treatment approach for sleep problems 22 and the VADoD Clinical Practice Guideline CPG for Chronic Insomnia Disorder and Obstructive Sleep Apnea recommendation for treating chronic insomnia 23. Studies show that 24 of males and 9 of females have sleep apnea more than 30 million people in the United States. There is also a direct correlation regarding the severity of the two conditions insofar as the more severe a veterans PTSD is the more severe their sleep apnea will be.

Being aware of sleep apnea can be difficult.