The Foundation for Airway Health will host an “Airway Summit”, September 15, 2016 at the El Conquistador Hotel in Tucson, Arizona. We’re calling it a “White Flag Event.” Why “white flag”? Because we’re asking you to momentarily set aside the focus on competition in the marketplace and serve patients by and articulating a unified airway health message.
The Mission of the Foundation for Airway Health is to help people realize their maximum potential by championing the recognition, diagnosis and treatment of airway related disorders through collaboration, awareness, research, education and access to care.
Healthcare thought leaders, academies, educational organizations, and companies are invited to collaborate on the message and address a prevalent, unrecognized and unmet public health problem: under-identified compromised airway.
Please accept our
invitation to help
craft and deliver the
airway message
Do you understand the important role airway structure and function plays in health, function, performance and well-being? You are invited to participate and help craft our Foundation message and will be listed as a resource for the many who will seek care.
We are in a public health crisis of epic proportions, and it has been steadily worsening. It affects the bodies, minds and spirits of young and old and can be measured in the percentage of the population with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, dementia, cancer, as well as ADHD, anxiety and depression. It can be measured in the dollars spent on healthcare, developmental and learning problems, and in the volume of medications prescribed – often for the expression, but not addressing the underlying cause – for all of the above conditions. When these diagnoses are driven by airway/sleep/breathing disorders, treating airways has to be part of the solution.
Do you know?
- More than 50% of U.S. adults suffer from sleep disorder breathing (SDB)
- 50% of Americans snore. One in five has mild to moderate apnea
- One in 15 has moderate to severe apnea
- Even today only 15% of patients with airway/sleep disorders (ASD) are diagnosed. In spite of new research, news stories, and conferences, this has not changed much in the past five years.
- The list of airway disorders and their comorbidities is growing
This is not a new healthcare problem that requires years of research to find a cure. There are already treatments that are successful and effective. The challenge is getting the message to the 85% in need and providing resources for screening, diagnosis and treatment.
The Foundation believes the dental community is in a unique position to take the lead, halting and reversing the epidemic of airway-driven chronic illness. So often the airway obstruction involves the tongue and other oral architecture. More and more thought leaders, organizations, laboratories and corporations are recognizing the role of airway health in chronic illness. Every week new approaches and treatments, instrumentation and products are introduced and marketed. But as noted, the percentage of cases that gets diagnosed has hardly changed.
The Foundation envisions a future where no child will be denied the opportunity to reach his or her potential because of an unrecognized airway/sleep problem. For everyone, of any age, we envision a future where the incidence of inflammatory and chronic illnesses falls, not rises.
Do you represent an organization, a healthcare company or are you a passionate and concerned practitioner? Please accept our invitation to help craft and deliver our airway message and serve as a resource for those discovering that there is hope for a fuller, happier life.
For more information, contact us at whiteflag@foundationforairwayhealth.org.
