Gasp: Airway Health: The Hidden Path to Wellness

The Airway Centric(R) Model prevents Airway-Centered Disorders, Sleep-Disordered Breathing to maintain mental and physical health. Learn how to recognize and correct Airway-Centered Disorders, Sleep-Disordered Breathing. Gasp is about our airway, breathing and sleep. Problems can start at birth. Many premature babies are mouth breathers. A poorly structured and functioning airway leads to mouth breathing, snoring and sleep apnea; it can interfere with restorative sleep and ultimately damage the part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, which controls executive function skills, attentiveness, anxiety and depression. Learn how to restore an ideal airway with early intervention, and where to go for help. Learn how once the airway is established with breastfeeding, allergy treatment, and other methods, neurocognitive and neurobehavioral problems are greatly improved-often without any medication. Anxiety and depression are alleviated, and the behavior and performance of children are remarkably transformed. Today there is a health movement toward "Wellness." Wellness is about diet and nutrition, exercise, and mental attitude. The new paradigm is called "Functional Medicine." It addresses the causes of chronic disease with an individualized approach and emphasizes early intervention. It restores the balance amongst functional systems and the networks that connect them. The missing link is airway, breathing, and sleep. If we don't breathe well when we sleep, 1/3 of our life is affected. Gasp describes the impact of a narrowed airway from cradle to grave. Every day, we encounter fatigued patients with chronic headaches and neck pain. They have difficulty concentrating; they suffer with GI problems from acid reflux to irritable bowel syndrome. They range from thin women to men who have put on a few pounds. And you do not have to be obese to have an airway problem. Many of our younger patients with ADHD and airway issues have little body fat. Time after time we see that once the airway is opened during the day and maintained during sleep, the transformation is quick and dramatic. Breathing is life.

Michael Gelb, DDS, MS: Dr Michael Gelb is an innovator in airway, breathing, sleep, and painful TMJ disorders pioneering Airway Centric(R). Dr Gelb has studied early intervention for sleep disordered breathing (SDB), specializing in how it relates to fatigue, focus, pain, and the effects all of these can have on family health. Dr. Gelb received his D.D.S. degree from Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery and his M.S. degree from SUNY at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. He is the former Director of the TMJ and Orofacial Pain Program at the NYU College of Dentistry and is currently Clinical Professor in the Department of Oral Medicine and Pathology at the NYU College of Dentistry. He has pioneered a new paradigm in preventive public healthcare named Airway Centric(R). He was awarded Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain in 1995. Howard Hindin, DDS: Dr Howard Hindin is the Founder of the Hindin Center for Whole Health Dentistry focusing on dental conditions that impact overall health and collaborating with other healthcare practitioners to provide more optimal care. He is an acknowledged pioneer in the relationship between dental issues and whole body health. He developed and was Director of the Acupuncture Program for Substance Abuse in Rockland County. He, along with Dr Gelb founded the American Academy of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry (AAPMD) and the Foundation for Airway Health. He has presented important position papers to dental and medical groups throughout the country. His research into the dental-medical connection has shaped the medical community’s understanding of this growing and important field.