Friday, April 14, 2017

Diagnose sleep apnea for cheap

Over a year ago I did the take home sleep study, cost around $300. It came back negative for sleep apnea. Turns out the study was wrong.

The more reliable, high-end sleep studies which can detect sleep apnea and UARS (upper airway restriction syndrome), cost thousands of dollars. Most CPAP machines these days track AHI (sleep apnea index) and cost roughly $300. So, I asked my doctor for a CPAP prescription, paying cash for the machine. Best choice I ever made. After using CPAP for a couple months the measurements showed I have mild to moderate sleep apnea. And I'm now getting twice as much sleep.

I'm 6-2, weighing 190 lbs. Not an overweight person. But, I have a narrow neck and crowded teeth. Both markers for UARS. UARS is very expensive/challenging to diagnose. So, if you're tired all the time and suspect the doc is missing something, might be time to get with your ENT and just buy a cpap machine. Mine is a REMStar Auto (System One 60 Series). Best purchase I ever made. Granted, acclimating to CPAP is no small task, took me a couple months, but well worth the struggle. Also finding a mask can take time, I settled on the Simplus mask.

Another amazing thing has happened in the last few weeks. The high-end sleep study I mentioned earlier is now done every night in your fitbit with the latest software update. All sleep stages can now be tracked. Yet another great way to track/measure if you have UARS or sleep apnea. Incredible times we live in, such a great time to be alive!



Many thanks to Doctor Steven Park, his blogging on UARS and sleep apnea have changed my life.

Monday, April 10, 2017

Excellent H1B article from the IEEE

What the U.S. desperately needs right now is inflation. Inflation cannot get a foothold until wages start going up. Reigning in the H1B program and cutting down on abuse fostered by large corporations is the key to getting wage inflation. Otherwise, we need to start talking about UBI, Universal Basic Income. See IEEE article here.