How to Educate Yourself on ApneaApnea Self-Education
Lest I give exclusive prominence to only one alternative, let me suggest that you check out an entire website devoted to reviews of sleep-related books for the general public. This site, constructed and maintained by Lynne Lamberg, is called "Books for Sleepless Nights." at http://bisleep.medsch.ucla.edu/books/ As the title suggests, it includews a lot of literature meant for people with insomnia, usually not the chief complaint of people with sleep apnea, who tend rather to sleep too much than too little. However, you will find in her list a number of titles with more general coverage. These include books such as Dr. J. Paul Caldwell's Sleep, The Promise of Sleep by the pre-eminent sleep researcher Dr. William Dement & Christopher Vaughn, the Harvard Health Letter Special Report on Sleep Disturbance, Dr. Ralph Pascualy and Sally Warren Soest's Snoring and Sleep Apnea, and the Sleep Disorders Sourcebook, edited by Jenifer Swanson. Check out Ms. Lamberg's astute reviews.
It's probably a good idea to purchase more than one such work, and whenever you have a question come up, check both to make sure they agree!
So, now you have a book or two and have read--or at least skimmed--through them, to garner some of the basic concepts and terms.
What next?
What else!--Surfing the Internet for more information and especially for more information related specifically to your own problems and questions! But where to start?
I suggest starting with the web site of the American Sleep Apnea Association http://www.sleepapnea.org , which is really your society, that you should join for its small fee that results in a useful newsletter delivered by postal mail. The ASAA also superintends a nationwide system of face-to-face group meetings for people with sleep apnea to obtain, offer, and exchange information, as well as provide each other with support and companionship. To my knowledge, this is the only such system of face-to-face groups available for people with sleep apnea. They are called AWAKE groups.
Next stop? This depends on the path you want to follow next.
If you feel in need of learning more from news articles, informational documents, etc., there are a number of reputable sites to check out:
TalkAboutSleep http://www.talkaboutsleep.com ;
KnowSleep http://www.knowsleep.com ;
SleepNet http://www.sleepnet.com ;
Sleep Medicine Home Page http://www.users.cloud9.net/~thorpy ;
SleepQuest http://www.sleepquest.com
The Sleep Disorder section of the vast About.com site, which offers a nice e-mail newsletter called The Sleepy Times edited by a knowledgeable and compassionate lady skilled in
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