What Is Sleep Apnea – Common Symptoms And Solutions
Have you recently been told by a doctor that you’re suffering from a type of sleep apnea? Are you still a little confused about what it is and the possible long-term effects of the condition? If so, this brief article may help answer some of your more pressing questions. In this article we will give a brief definition of sleep apnea, including a description of the two most common types, the various causes of each type, available treatment strategies and the potentially harmful side effects of the condition if left untreated.
Sleep apnea is a very common sleep disorder affecting millions of people across the globe. The disorder is characterized by one or more pauses in breathing while you sleep, or even a pattern of shallow breathing that disrupts your normal sleep routine. While most of these pauses last only a few seconds to a few minutes, they will often occur 10-20 times during a typical sleep hour, and eventually be interrupted by a loud snort or choking sound signifying a return to regular breathing.
Sleep apnea, especially when severe, can be a very dangerous condition, but at the very least the condition will move you out of deep sleep and into shallow sleep when the pauses begin, which can in turn leave you feeling tired and restless the next morning.
Apnea during sleep can go on for years and remain undiagnosed, and since there are no specific blood tests or symptoms that show when awake associated with this condition, doctors will generally have an extremely difficult time detecting the condition.
There are two basic types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. The latter of these two, is much less common than the former, and occurs because the brain fails to send the proper signals to the breathing muscles during sleep – signals that tell you when it’s time to breathe. As a result, there will be periods of time when you simply neglect to breathe.
The second type of apnea, obstructive sleep apnea, is by far the most common form of the disorder. With this type of disorder, the airway either collapses or becomes obstructed during sleep, causing shallow, labored breathing and frequent pauses. This is usually characterized by loud snoring – a sound that occurs as the air tries to squeeze passed the obstructed airway.
Apnea during sleep can be caused by a number of factors. Obstructive sleep apnea, for example, is much more common in people who are overweight, while central sleep apnea presents more in people with certain medical conditions or those taking particular medications.
Long term effects of untreated apnea during sleep include:
* Hypertension
* Heart Attack
* Stroke
* Diabetes
* Heart Failure
* Irregular Heartbeats
There is no cure for this disorder, but the condition can be managed with the proper diet, lifestyle changes and special breathing apparatus that can keep your airway unobstructed during sleep. Only a doctor can diagnose apnea during sleep, so if you feel you may have some of the symptoms described above, it would be wise to make an appointment as soon as possible.
Learn more about what is sleep apnea and discover the latest information about the various treatments available for this disorder.
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