What is sleep apnea? Sleep apnea, or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), happens when the muscles in your throat relax too much during sleep, which blocks the airway and causes breathing to stop or become shallow. The disruption in breathing interrupts your sleep cycle, which can have a number of negative effects on your body, including excessive daytime drowsiness and high blood pressure. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms on a regular basis, talk to your doctor about sleep apnea tests that can diagnose this common condition.
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during your sleep. If you have it, you may be aware of pauses in your breathing or snoring when you’re sleeping, especially if you have a partner that sleeps with you. But sometimes people with sleep apnea don’t even know they have it because they aren’t always aware of their own snoring or are woken up only when their bed partner tells them about it. Sleep Apnea has been linked to high blood pressure and heart disease. Some studies also suggest there might be an association between sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes as well as certain cancers like breast cancer in women. Because you can feel fine while having sleep apnea, however, it can easily go undetected without proper diagnosis and treatment. More than 18 million Americans suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a medical disorder characterized by periods of complete airway obstruction occurring five or more times per hour during sleep. These events lead to brief interruptions in breathing followed by a loud gasp or snort and then return of normal breathing. It causes daytime sleepiness, which often goes undiagnosed for years until someone suffers an injury due to lack of alertness.
How Sleep Apnea Affects Your Health
Sleep apnea comes with a list of very serious health risks that affect not only you, but your family. If you think you’re at risk for it, schedule an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible to get evaluated. If diagnosed, there are many effective treatments available to minimize its impact on your quality of life. It’s important to remember, however, that preventing sleep apnea from occurring in the first place can be difficult without professional guidance. By practicing good sleeping habits and improving your overall well-being—particularly if you have any coexisting conditions like heart disease or diabetes—you may be able to lower your chances of developing more severe cases of sleep apnea.
And above all else, don’t hesitate when it comes to scheduling yourself a medical evaluation!
Who Gets Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea affects people of all ages, races, and sizes. If you’re overweight or obese, you’re at a higher risk of developing it. Also, men tend to get it more than women. But overall, your chance of getting sleep apnea increases as you age—meaning if you have it now, there’s a very good chance that it will stick around for years to come (if not get worse). Over time, sleep apnea can cause problems with heart health and can even lead to high blood pressure. It’s also linked with memory issues in older adults. When treating your partner or loved one with sleep apnea, be sure to keep these health risks in mind! Always talk to your doctor about treatment options.
How do you know if you have it?
The American Sleep Apnea Association defines sleep apnea as a serious disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. How do you know if you have it? If you snore loudly or feel fatigued during your waking hours, there’s a chance that your sleep schedule is being interrupted by an undiagnosed case of sleep apnea. If so, you should get tested to determine whether treatment would be beneficial. This can require a trip to your doctor’s office; however, some people are able to use home diagnostic devices to measure how often they stop breathing while asleep. Once diagnosed with sleep apnea, many people experience significant reductions in anxiety levels and daytime fatigue—all symptoms associated with sleep apnea. Here’s how to approach getting diagnosed for sleep apnea: Find out what type of sleep apnea you have: The most common form is obstructive, meaning that patients suffer from thickened throat tissue (often due to chronic neck issues), making it difficult for them to breathe easily. However, if you aren’t overweight or obese (the leading cause of adult onset diabetes), then consider central sleep apnea as well.
How should I treat it
Sleep apnea can be treated with lifestyle changes and medical treatments. The main goal of treatment for sleep apnea is to find what works best for you and incorporate it into your daily routine. Sleeping on your side with a C-shaped pillow under your neck can improve breathing during sleep. As an alternative, sleeping on a full face mask or mouthpiece may also be helpful when snoring prevents you from getting a good night’s rest. Talk to your doctor about which option might work best for you. These treatments do not cure sleep apnea; however, they can make it easier to live with and better control blood pressure as well as prevent other complications that may occur over time due to poor blood circulation. If these methods don’t work there are additional treatments available but they require more frequent visits to your physician than lifestyle changes. This includes surgery, dental devices or appliances that widen or stabilize your airway. Additionally doctors often prescribe medicine such as steroids, to help control inflammation in your airways. Although effective in some cases, many patients choose not to use any medication because of side effects. In order to avoid taking medication you should discuss all options with your doctor and decide together what course of action will give you long term relief from apnea symptoms without too many adverse side effects.
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