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Migraines have been associated with brain edema. When the brain develops edema it has decreased levels of oxygen and sugar, which the brain needs to function. Migraine triggers are simply any stimulus that activates the brain, further increasing a congested brain’s requirement for oxygen and sugar. To receive these nutrients, the brain must increase its blood circulation. It does this by opening up, or dilating, the arteries to the brain and within the brain, slowly flushing out the congested brain tissue. This causes temporarily elevated brain pressure and pain, which is the migraine. Once the brain is flushed, the arteries return to normal. This means that a migraine may be a natural and healthy autoregulatory response of the brain to relieve itself of edema, which was created by lying down too flat for too long.

Sleep Apnea

There are two ways by which sleep position can cause sleep apnea.

First, if you are on your back and flat, this unnatural position allows the tongue to fall back and block the throat, causing snoring and obstruction of the airways. This is the cause of obstructive sleep apnea.

Second, brain edema from sleeping too flat for too long may make the brain stem sluggish and slightly dysfunctional. The brain stem is the part of the brain that controls breathing. This leads to difficulties in breathing, especially when the head is down while sleeping and getting further congested. This is the cause of central sleep apnea.

Head elevation has already been used to treat obstructive sleep apnea, although it has been underutilized as a therapy in favor of more costly alternatives, such as the surgical removal of parts of the throat.

We believe head elevation should be tried first for all forms of sleep apnea, including central sleep apnea.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a condition in which the pressure within the eyeball rises, leading to impaired eye circulation and, ultimately, to eye damage and possible blindness.

Research has shown that pressure within the eye goes up when a person lies down, and goes down when the person sits up. A slight head elevation can lower eyeball pressure and should have been used as a treatment for glaucoma.

It has been ignored, however, due to the cultural assumption that head elevation during sleep is not a medical issue. Nevertheless, sleeping with the head too flat for too long over many years pressurizes the eyeballs as well as the brain, slowly creating glaucoma.

To perform the following SELF STUDY, you may want to get your eyeball pressure checked before and after the study period, since this is the only way to tell whether or not your eye pressure has changed.

If you are on medication for glaucoma, check with your physician if he or she feels that you can safely go without medication for a 3-month study.(If your physician advises against going off of medication for 3 months, you may want to question that advice, unless you prefer lifetime treatment and medical appointments to a cure.)