Blog Archive
If you wake up feeling exhausted, suffer from a dry mouth, or hear complaints about your snoring from your sleep partner, then you may have sleep apnea, a disorder where you stop and restart breathing throughout the night while sleeping. At Respacare in Bridgewater, New Jersey, our sleep medicine specialists...
About 12% of Americans have chronic insomnia, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Millions of people struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep most nights for three or more months. Do you have a hard time falling asleep? Are you waking up too...
If you have a pulmonary stress test scheduled, you may feel a little nervous about what to expect. Are you asking questions like, “What will happen? Will the test be uncomfortable? What will it tell me about my lungs?” At Respacare in Bridgewater, New Jersey, our pulmonologists perform pulmonary stress...
You’re not alone if you find yourself sneezing, coughing, and dealing with a runny nose with every change of season. Millions of Americans struggle with allergies. Whether caused by pollen or ragweed, respiratory allergies are challenging, often interfering with daily life. If you suffer from allergies, you want to know...
Sleep apnea is more than snoring and feeling groggy in the morning. It’s a serious sleep disorder with life-threatening consequences when left untreated. The disorder disrupts breathing while you sleep, increasing the risk of health issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Don’t dismiss your snoring and daytime...
Your lungs work tirelessly, breathing in and out to supply oxygen to all the cells, tissues, and organs in your body and release waste like carbon dioxide gas. You may not think much about your lungs until you experience breathing problems. However, whether you have a breathing disorder or not,...
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the standard treatment for sleep apnea, helping you breathe better and sleep better. But the machines are bulky, and you may second guess any travel plans if you can’t take your therapy with you. But you don’t have to. At Respacare in Bridgewater,...
You never had a problem before, but now every time you have shrimp cocktail, your throat itches and you get a rash. These unusual symptoms may mean you have a food allergy. Food allergies are an abnormal immune system reaction to specific foods, causing a range of symptoms from hives...
You're familiar with the common cold, COVID-19, and the flu, but respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) may not be on your radar. If you’re the parent of a young child, RSV is something you should know about. While anyone can get RSV, younger children are at greater risk of developing serious...
Breathing is a vital automatic function that sustains life by maintaining blood oxygen levels and removing carbon dioxide from the body. While this process occurs naturally, lung function isn’t beyond your influence. With targeted exercises, you can enhance lung capacity, the amount of air your lungs hold at one time,...
Feeling exhausted? You’re not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 13% of adults in the United States report feeling very tired almost every day. Why are we so exhausted all day? The answer isn’t straightforward. At Respacare in Bridgewater, New Jersey, our team...
You have a nagging cough, stuffy nose, and sore throat. It must be a cold, right? Not necessarily. Respiratory allergies and the common cold share similar symptoms, making it hard to distinguish between them on your own. And, misdiagnosing yourself with a spring cold when you have respiratory allergies may...
Everyone has trouble falling or staying asleep at some point in time. But if your sleep issues occur a few nights a week and last several months, you may have chronic insomnia. Not getting an adequate amount of sleep for an extended period of time can affect your physical and...
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the gold standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, it only works if patients use it. Current research shows that about 34% of people on CPAP for OSA aren’t consistent with their nighttime treatment. Our sleep medicine specialists, Dr. Nehal Mehta and...
The goal of sleep apnea treatment is to help you sleep better. But if you find it hard to get a good night’s rest with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, then it’s time to look at other options. SomnoGuard® is an oral appliance for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that...
Have you ever felt exhausted all day, but when you turned in for the night, you were suddenly wide awake and couldn’t fall asleep? Believe it or not, this is a common problem that occurs for various reasons. At Respacare, a pulmonary and sleep medicine practice in Bridgewater, New Jersey,...
Your lungs and the rest of your respiratory system are responsible for helping you breathe. They also take in oxygen and remove excess carbon dioxide from the air you breathe in and out. If you have a chronic lung disease, your breathing muscles are weakened, causing you to have shortness...
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered dramatic changes throughout everyday life — and in the medical community as well. Not only are providers across the country postponing elective procedures, but many are also encouraging people to avoid in-office appointments to reduce their risk of exposure to this highly contagious coronavirus.But what...
You feel more tired than usual, you no longer enjoy eating your favorite food, and you have a cough that won’t go away. You had COVID-19 months ago, so could you have lingering symptoms? It’s estimated that up to 10% of people in the United States continue to experience COVID-19...
The mask is uncomfortable, the machine is noisy, and the constant inflow of dry air irritates the nose, mouth, and throat. It’s no wonder so many people are looking for alternatives to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy for managing sleep apnea. Are you tired of your CPAP? We can...
It’s completely normal to experience daytime sleepiness from time to time. In fact, it’s to be expected after a long night, a disrupted sleep schedule, or periods with increased activity. However, if you consistently struggle to stay awake during the day, it can be a sign of a problem. In...
Many people have heard the words “sleep apnea” these days. Without treatment, this disorder keeps you from feeling your best during the day. Worse yet, it can cause serious health complications and even shorten your lifespan. So, the more people that learn about this issue, the more likely they are...
It’s normal to have a lot of questions when your health provider recommends a pulmonary stress test, a type of pulmonary function test. Experts use pulmonary function screenings to evaluate a person’s lung health and to identify any underlying issues. Different types of pulmonary function screenings — like a pulmonary...
No one wants to bring a lot of “extras” along when traveling, especially when you spend a lot of time living out of a suitcase. However, the thing you shouldn’t leave behind is your CPAP machine. But wait! We’re not talking about your bulky, home-use machine. Dr. Nehal Mehta and...
First things first — if you have problems breathing, it’s time to see an expert. Several things can interfere with normal breathing, and some are more serious than others. So, it’s crucial to understand what’s behind your symptoms. Similarly, some conditions are also closely linked, like allergies and asthma. Our...
People typically focus strictly on the lungs when they think of lung disorders. But these diseases can affect numerous parts of the respiratory system, including: Airways (the tubes connected to the lungs) Lung tissue (the structure of the tissue forming the lungs) Lung circulation (blood vessels in the lungs) Some...
COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, it’s technically not a single condition. Instead, it describes a variety of lung-damaging diseases that cause breathing problems and airflow blockages. Dr. Nehal Mehta and Dr. Prashant Patel at Respacare have the tools to detect breathing disorders and lung diseases like COPD....
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s natural to cut corners and rejigger priorities. However, if you’re playing that game with your sleep, it could be working against you. Studies show that most adults need 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night. Yet, nearly 30% get less than...
Nearly 27 million Americans have asthma, a chronic respiratory condition that causes airway inflammation, trouble breathing, and other potentially serious symptoms. If you have asthma, you know wintertime can be especially challenging, exacerbating your symptoms while increasing your risk of other respiratory ailments, too. At Respacare in Bridgewater, New Jersey,...
Most people are familiar with the idea of allergies and many have at least a passing knowledge of asthma, but what happens when someone experiences an allergy and asthma at the same time? Allergy-induced asthma, also called allergic asthma, affects around 15 million people in the United States. Here’s everything...
Smoking affects nearly every organ in your body, especially your lungs. Every time you smoke a cigarette, you damage your lungs and airways and prevent them from functionally properly. You also subject your lungs and airways to harmful, acute side effects, including troublesome coughing and wheezing. Other side effects are more...
The National Institutes of Health estimates between 50 to 70 million Americans have sleep disorders, which can influence your overall health and quality of life. Sleep apnea is one of the most common sleep disorders, affecting approximately 22 million people across the country, but this number could be higher, with...
Sleep apnea is a type of sleep disorder that affects your breathing while you’re trying to sleep. People may stop breathing multiple times during the night, which causes them to wake up feeling exhausted as if they haven’t slept at all. If you believe that you have a sleep problem, watch...
Your lungs take in oxygen and deliver it to your bloodstream when you breathe. All the cells in your body need this oxygen to function and grow. Your body’s ability to function appropriately is hampered when you have a breathing disorder. Breathing disorders can be long-term or chronic, such as...
When you have obstructive sleep apnea or other difficulties breathing at night, a CPAP machine helps keep your airways clear while you’re asleep. Regular CPAP maintenance keeps your breathing device working efficiently to minimize nighttime disruptions and taking care of your machine is fairly simple if you create a regular schedule...
Sleep disorders not only keep you awake at night, they also can affect how you feel during the day. If you’re having trouble staying awake during the day or feel groggy on a regular basis, these could be early sleep disorder symptoms. Being able to tell the difference between occasional sleep problems...
Breathing allergies affect your daily life, but early detection can limit the impact and help you breathe easy. Learning the early signs and symptoms of an allergy to mold, dust, pollen or other airborne irritants helps you recognize when to call an experienced pulmonary doctor for testing and treatment. The...
Breathing problems, such as asthma, bronchitis, COPD and pulmonary fibrosis, can be made worse with outdoor air that’s of poor quality, such as when pollen levels are high, air pollution sources are present or there are environmental sources of poor air quality such as wildfires. Air Quality Index The Air...
As Bridgewater lung doctors, our main priority is your health. We are proud to announce that the American Lung Association has launched an online tool to help users determine whether they meet the guidelines for CT screening for lung cancer. If this screening were widely implemented, 3,000 to 4,000 lives...
It is officially the beginning of flu season, so right now is the best time to get an influenza vaccination. The flu is a serious illness and has the potential to be life threatening. “It’s important to understand that the flu is not just a bad cold, it’s a serious...