| Sleep Apnea |
Sleep apnea is a serious disorder that causes your breathing to stop repeatedly while you sleep. There are effective treatments for sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious disorder that causes your breathing to stop repeatedly while you sleep. These breathing pauses or "apneas" usually last 10 to 30 seconds and can happen many times throughout the night. Untreated sleep apena can lead to serious health problems, accidents, and premature death. Thankfully, sleep apnea can be treated effectively. Types of sleep apneaThe most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea, which happens when the upper airway gets blocked during sleep. Most often, the blockage happens when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. Relaxed throat muscles, a narrow airway, a large tongue or extra fatty tissue in the throat can also block the airway. Central apnea and mixed apnea are other types of sleep apnea, but are more rare. In central sleep apnea the part of the brain that controls breathing doesn't work properly. The devastating effects of the lack of sleepUntreated sleep apnea can cause serious health problems:
The health problems caused by sleep apnea can lead to loss of employment, marriage break-up. Untreated sleep apnea is also associated with some permanent memory loss and dementia, especially in the elderly. Because of the daytime sleepiness it causes, sleep apnea is also responsible for car accidents and industrial accidents. How sleep apnea is linked to heart attacks and strokeDuring deep sleep, your heart rate and blood pressure drop. This allows your heart to rest. The pattern of snoring, pauses in breathing and then gasping or choking for air that happen with sleep apnea prevent you from getting the kind of restful, deep sleep your body needs. This can result in high blood pressure. When your blood pressure is high, your heart must work too hard. This can lead to heart attack or stroke. More than half of people with untreated sleep apnea have high blood pressure. If sleep apnea isn't treated for a long time, your heart begins to wear out because it has to pump harder to cope with the lack of oxygen caused by repeated pauses in breathing. Many people have sleep apnea without knowing itMany people with sleep apnea don't know they have it. They may not recognize the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea commonly seek help because of daytime sleepiness, or snoring and pauses in breathing noted by their bed partner. Snoring is not neccesarily sleep apneaSleep apnea is sometimes called the "snoring disease" because snoring is one of the symptoms. But snoring by itself doesn't necessarily mean that you have sleep apnea. It is true that loud snoring is common in people with this disorder, but there's a big difference between simple snoring and sleep apnea. Your doctor can diagnose the cause of snoring and determine whether it's caused by sleep apnea or by something else. Who gets sleep apnea?One in five adults has at least mild sleep apnea and one in fifteen adults have at least moderate sleep apnea. Kids can also get sleep apnea; obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 1-3% of children. Who's most at risk for sleep apnea?Men, women and children of all ages can have sleep apnea. Your risk is higher if you:
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Signs & SymptomsFamily members or bed partners often pick up on the signs of sleep apnea first. Many people with sleep apnea don't know they're snoring and gasping for breath at night. If you have any of the following signs, see your doctor:
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