title: Effects of one-week tongue task training on sleep apnea severity: A pilot study.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of one-week tongue-task training (TTT) on sleep apnea severity in sleep apnea subjects. Ten patients with sleep apnea (seven men, mean [± SD] age 52 ± 8 years; mean apnea-hypopnea [AHI] index 20.9 ± 5.3 events/h) underwent 1 h TTT in the authors' laboratory on seven consecutive days. A complete or limited recording and tongue maximal protruding force were assessed before and after one-week TTT. One-week TTT was associated with a global AHI decrease (pre-TTT: 20.9 ± 5.3 events/h; post-TTT: 16.1 ± 5.1 events/h; P<0.001) and AHI decrease during rapid eye movement sleep (pre-TTT: 32.2 ± 18.4 events/h; post-TTT: 16.7 ± 6.6 events/h; P=0.03), while protruding force remained unchanged. The authors consider these results to be potentially clinically relevant and worthy of further investigation in a large randomized trial.
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Rousseau
authors: Cesar
authors: C
authors: Silva
authors: Simon
authors: S
authors: Gakwaya
authors: Frédéric
authors: F
authors: Sériès
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017286:Polysomnography; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D014059:Tongue; D016896:Treatment Outcome