Dr. Ruchir P. Patel, Medical Director and Practice Founder of The Insomnia and Sleep Institute of Arizona, has been recognized as an Inspire Excellence Program Member. He was also awarded the Inspire Physical Excellence Award in 2021. The Inspire Excellence Program recognizes physicians and their team who demonstrate their commitment to delivering an exceptional patient experience while achieving excellent clinical outcomes. The recognition by Inspire is a unique honor awarded currently to just 19 centers around the world.
Inspire is an FDA-approved obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) treatment option for people who cannot use Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy. Inspire works inside the body, using mild stimulation to treat obstructive sleep apnea. The therapy is controlled by the user with a small handheld remote.
Excellence recognition is based on three key elements, including expertise, patient experience, and clinical outcomes. Awarded by the Inspire Institute Excellence Committee, Dr. Ruchir P. Patel joins a select group of his colleagues and fellow sleep specialists from around the globe who provide the absolute best care and options for OSA patients.
OSA Facts
If not correctly diagnosed and treated, sleep apnea can negatively affect health, well-being, and even be life-threatening. There are two primary types of sleep apnea, with OSA being the most common. It leads to paused or stopped breathing while a person sleeps, and the patient can also experience snoring, gasping, and choking while asleep (common signs of OSA). In addition, there are other less specific symptoms, such as unwarranted daily fatigue.
It is estimated that about 30 million people in the country have OSA, including both adults and children (although adults have OSA more often than children). On a global scale, OSA is said to affect nearly one billion people. Given how many people have sleep apnea, many undiagnosed (approximately 23.5 million undiagnosed in the U.S.), there is a good chance it will play a role in your life either as a patient yourself, sharing a bed with someone with OSA, or parenting a child with sleep apnea.
What You Need to Know About OSA
OSA occurs due to muscles relaxing and soft tissue blocking the upper respiratory airway. A person’s chances of developing OSA increase as they get older, and more women struggle with it than men (especially post-menopause). Studies have shown that women often underreport their own snoring and don’t self-report insomnia and fatigue as much as men. Untreated, OSA is linked to many issues, including stroke, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, depression, and high blood pressure.
Although some lifestyle shifts can reduce the severity of OSA, such as losing weight for those who are obese or overweight, many times, medical intervention is required. CPAP therapy remains the gold standard for OSA, but when that fails, the Inspire implant may be the right approach. If you are a candidate for the Inspire implant or would like to know more, you deserve to work with only sleep specialists who are part of the Inspire Excellence Member Program.
