Approximately twelve to twenty million people in the United States suffer from sleep apnea. Adult sleep apnea is as common across the globe as is adult onset diabetes. More men suffer from it than women. In addition, it's more common in those who are overweight and have a tendency toward loud, habitual snoring. According to The National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research, approximately 38,000 individuals die annually as a result of cardiovascular problems relating in one way or another to sleep apnea.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder differentiated by pauses in breathing during sleep. These pauses can cover anywhere from ten to sixty seconds at a time. In more serious cases, the breathing lapses can be even longer. These pauses or "apnea events" can occur as often as three hundred to four hundred times per night. Some people wake up during these episodes while others do not.
What Are The Different Types of Sleep Apnea?
There are three types of sleep apnea - obstructive, central and mixed. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common, afflicting nine out of ten individuals who suffer from the disorder. In the case of obstructive sleep apena, an obstruction is blocking the trachea (or wind pipe) from allowing air in and out of the lungs. Other causes of the obstruction include the possibility of too much fatty tissue in the area of the throat or that the throat muscles are too relaxed. The second type, central sleep apnea, results from the brain having crossed signals about normal breathing patterns. In this case "the muscles you use to breathe don’t get the ‘go-ahead’ signal from the brain. Either the brain doesn’t send the signal, or the signal gets interrupted." This form is extremely rare. The third and final type, mixed sleep apnea, is a combination of the other two, though it generally has more in common with obstructive sleep apnea.
How Do I Know For Sure If I Have Sleep Apnea?
There are a number of initial symptoms that should alert you to the possibility of sleep apnea. These include loud snoring, cessation of breathing during the night, and extreme tiredness during the day. If you exhibit any of these symptoms, your doctor can send you for a special sleep-recording test known as a polysomnography which can diagnosis the disorder.
Is Sleep Apnea Dangerous And/Or Life Threatening?
If left untreated sleep apnea can lead to more serious health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. The chances of having a car accident or a work-related accident are also increased for those suffering from sleep apnea.
Is There Anything That Can Be Done To Improve My Sleep Apnea?
Initially, making lifestyle changes can go a long way in preventing sleep apnea from growing worse. These changes can include losing weight, quitting smoking, limiting your use of alcohol four hours before bedtime, not using sleeping pills or sedatives, and sleeping on your side instead of on your back.
C Pap Sleep Apnea
Your heart and sleep apnea are related in a delicate way that may either shorten or prolong your life according to your lifestyle. Some experts call this relationship a biological dance. Be advised therefore that you have to watch this metaphoric carefully so as to detect early enough any symptoms of sleep apnea for quick remedy. Sleep Apnea is a silent killer that strikes while you are asleep
Of course you know as I do that blood is powr moving us and keeping our bodies alive with precious oxygen and other living supporting nutrients required by your different cells to help your body function right, fight infection, and make new cells. Red blood cells distribute oxygen all over your body making sure all processes are on going in your body. You have to groups of blood cells; the red blood cells that nourish your system and the white blood cells that protect it from infections.
When sleep apnea happens, this delicate balance between your heart and oxygen is interrupted repeatedly. Your blood receives little or no oxygen for body's cells over and over. Interruption duration can be anything from 30-40 seconds or more. Some people can experience breathings interruptions lasting up to one. Now the big question how can you know that you have sleep apnea since it occurs when you are asleep. One way to look at it if you find that you wake up panting is to suspect that you might have sleep apnea symptom. There it will be a goo idea to get someone to sleep with you and watch you for a few nights to obtain a preliminary sleep disorder report for you.
Extreme sleepiness, headaches, and memory problems can be benign factors that cause sleep apnea. When oxygen delivery is regularly disrupted it could cause you to begin to gain weight which can lead to diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. It can also affect your job adversely and cause work-related accidents or even motor vehicle accidents.
Concerning cardiovascular problems, scientists are now realizing there are serious ramifications regarding sleep apnea and the heart. When deprived of oxygen, blood vessels constrict, the heart pumps harder through these vessels, and blood pressure spikes. Considering that apnea episodes can occur hundreds of times during the night, the connection between sleep apnea, stroke, congestive heart failure is very palpable.
The ability of your blood to carry adequate levels of oxygen saturation to all the cells of your body is a life sustaining process you must take good care of. Are you aware that sleep apnea is not only capable of robbing of robbing of sound health, but could, if not checked cause you untold harm. It is a silent thief of oxygen from your cells, and to compound its menace, it operates at night when you are asleep, stealing oxygen intermittently and shortening your life span, little by little, in such a insidious fashion you may never have any knowledge that you are being robbed of the essence of life.
In bring this article to an end let me say that now that you have informed of the link between sleep apnea and your heart if you find that your are have sleep apnea symptoms, the best thing to do for your health is immediately go to your doctor and ask for a recommendation to a polysomnography test at a sleep clinic where doctors should respect their Hippocratic oat and without any delay take on that course to save your life. Consequently, doctors and patients increasingly need to work together to rid over 20 million people all over the world who are afflicted by this terrible sleep disorder that also predisposes sufferers to several other health conditions that are life threatening.
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