Pros and Cons of Using Herbs to Treat Sleep Apnea

The use of herbs to treat sleep apnea is growing among patients and may certainly represent a potentially effective means of controlling this disorder. Before you indulge in this form of self medication, it is highly recommended that you consult the opinion of your physician. Dr. Taj Jiva endorses this suggestion as a means of preventing possible negative interactions between herbs and medications that result when patients fail to disclose their use of alternative treatments to doctors, especially those physicians who have not sought to become as informed about herbal treatments as they should.

What is Sleep Apnea?
Apnea is a sleep disorder in which a person stops breathing for a minimum of 10 seconds at a time. This failure to breathe properly can occur as often as 30 times over the course of every hour of sleep. The result of this obstruction of breathing is a decrease in the oxygen supply to the blood and the disruption of normal sleeping cycles.

Mainstream Treatment for Sleep Apnea
Mainstream medical research for sleep apnea has thus far resulted in no effective cure. Treatments aim to control symptoms by stimulating the breathing process. Among the most popular treatments are masks worn over the nose that uses air pressure to maintain open airways and surgery to excise tissue located on the back of the throat which is blocking the airway. Patients looking for herbal treatments may be responding to the discomfort of the mask treatment and the low efficacy of the surgical procedure.

Warnings about Herbal Treatment for Sleep Apnea
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health, provides a warning against the use of herbs to treatment sleep disorders, including apnea. The NCCAM warns that although anecdotal evidence for the efficacy of certain herbs is widespread, authentic scientific evidence is lacking. Specific caution against the use of the herb kava is also provided by the NCCAM which warns that the Food and Drug Administration has linked supplements to an increased risk of liver damage.

Valerian Root for Insomnia and Sleep Apnea\
Valerian root is an herb that binds to the same brain receptors that respond to mainstream medications to treat sleeping disorders like Valium and Xanax. Valerian has been approved as a tranquilizer by Germany's Commission E and the FDA has recognized this herb as being generally safe. The primary concern when treating sleep apnea with valerian root is to avoid combining it with alcohol or other sedatives as the potential for addictive effect exists.

Herbal Sleep Pillow
One unusual way to use herbs to treat sleep apnea is with an herbal sleep pillow. A sleep pillow can be constructed by sewing together soft fabric into which herbs appropriate for inducing relaxation and sleep are stuffed. According to the editors of "Herbs that Heal" the most effective herbs for stuffing include lavender, hops, chamomile and rose. This smaller pillow can then be placed inside your normal pillow or just to the side of your head at night.