What is Sleep Apnea?

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Sleep apnea is a common serious disorder in which the breathing stops and starts as you sleep. Sleep apnea can be treated. Untreated sleep apnea is dangerous to your health and so it is necessary to visit a doctor and check whether you have it.

What is Sleep Apnea

This sleeping disorder is a common one in which you have one or more pauses while breathing or you take shallow breaths during your sleep. This breathing pause can last for seconds to minutes. They occur five to thirty times or can be more in an hour. Then the normal breathing starts again with a choking sound or a loud snort. Sleep apnea is an ongoing condition which disrupts your sleep. In this disorder, you move out of deep sleep and enter into light sleep when your breathing process becomes shallow or pauses. This leads to a poor sleep quality which makes you feel tired during the day. Sleep apnea is the leading cause of excessive daytime sleepiness.

Types of Sleep Apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

This apnea is the most common type of apnea. It occurs when the soft tissue present in the back of the throat relaxes while you are sleeping which then leads to blockage of airways.

Central Sleep Apnea

This is a less common type of apnea which involves the central nervous system and not the airway obstruction. This apnea occurs when the brain fails to give signal to the muscles which are responsible for breathing. People with central apnea hardly ever snore.

Complex Sleep Apnea

A combination of obstructive and central sleep apnea is considered to be the complex sleep apnea condition. This is not the common type of sleeping apnea.

Causes

There are various causes of sleep apnea. Anyone can have this apnea. Old, young, male, female and even children can suffer with this sleeping disorder. There are some disorders that are associated with central and obstructive sleep apnea. Here are a few risk factors for obstructive apnea if you are:

  • Over the age of 65
  • Male
  • Overweight
  • A smoker
  • Have a thick neck, receding chin and enlarged tonsils
  • Risk factors for central sleeping apnea

Like the obstructive sleep apnea, central apnea is common in males and with people over 65 years. Central sleep apnea is associated with serious illnesses like heart stroke, heart disease, spinal or brainstem injury and any other neurological disease.

Symptoms

There are many symptoms of sleep apnea. They are:

  • Gasping or choking during sleep
  • Chronic, loud snoring
  • Memory or learning problems, feeling irritable
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness
  • Morning headaches, poor concentration
  • Dry mouth or throat upon awakening
  • Depression and changes in mood

Effects

There are various effects of this sleeping disorder. Those suffering with sleeping apnea have vision problems, impaired reaction time and also suffer from daytime fatigue. These all conditions contribute to sleep deprived driving. The other harmful effects of apnea are short term memory, difficulty in processing information and judgment. These effects interrupt daytime cognition. All the behavioral effects accompany sleep apnea. The cognitive and behavioral effects of sleep apnea are dangerous in occupations like machine operating and manual labor.

Treatment

Sleep apnea can be treated in several forms. In moderate and mild cases, the usage of mandibular devices and weight loss can help to cure apnea. In some cases, the mandibular advance device or the nasal continuous positive airway pressure are prescribed. Apart from this, sleeping apnea can be treated if you make changes in your lifestyle. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Lose weight as a small amount of weight loss can open up your throat. This will improve the sleep apnea symptoms and will help to get rid of it.
  • Stop smoking if you are suffering from sleep apnea. It contributes to sleep apnea and increases the inflammation and fluid retention in your upper airway and throat.
  • Avoid taking sleeping pills, alcohol and sedatives before bedtime. They relax the muscles in the throat and are responsible for interfering with breathing.
  • Maintain regular sleep hours and stick to a steady sleep schedule

Sleep apnea can be treated easily. Do not ignore this sleeping disorder as it may lead to various serious health problems.