Sleep Apnea

When you have sleep apnea, you often wake up during your sleep cycle due to a lack of air.  When this happens, patients often make a throaty sound which is similar to snoring and can wake up, startled and short of breath. You may not notice that you are waking up, even though it happens hundreds of times a night.  Your healthy sleep patterns are disrupted in a way that may have some severe health consequences

There are two different kinds of sleep apnea: obstructive and central. People can have both kinds, but obstructive sleep apnea is far more common.

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when your airway collapses at night, cutting off your air supply. In the daytime, your muscles and gravity are working to keep your throat and airways open.  Lying down at night-time means that your muscles relax and are working against gravity. A partial airway collapse causes turbulent airflow that vibrates tissues, causing snoring.

Your risk of snoring and sleep apnea can be influenced by many factors, including:

• Your anatomy
• Obesity
• Neck size
• Alcohol and drug use
• Prescription medications
• Sleeping position
• Allergies and other causes of inflammation
• Age

Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing stops for several seconds, multiple times a night.

People who suffer from sleep apnea are often chronic snorers who may also experience symptoms such as:

• Frequently waking while choking or gasping for air
• Feeling unrested in the morning
• Excessive daytime fatigue
• Frequent morning headaches
• Chronic sore throat or dry mouth

Sleep apnea treatment is very effective, but most people with the condition don’t know they have it or they avoid treatment. But treating sleep apnea is vital. People with sleep apnea may be up to six times more likely to die an early death.

That’s because sleep apnea can dramatically impact your health in many ways, causing:

• Cardiovascular damage
• Metabolic disruption
• Cognitive and mood disorders

Fortunately, because sleep apnea causes all these conditions, treating sleep apnea can improve them all as well.

Cardiovascular Problems Related to Sleep Apnea

When your air supply gets cut off, your brain seeks to restore its supply of oxygen. It does this partly by awakening to reopen the airway, but it also tells your heart to pump harder and faster. This can increase your blood pressure and may cause other forms of cardiovascular illness. Cardiovascular death is the most common cause of death linked to sleep apnea.

People with sleep apnea are at an elevated risk for these cardiovascular illnesses:

• Coronary artery disease
• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Hypertension

Even simple snoring can contribute to cardiovascular risk. Snoring vibrations can cause tiny injuries in the blood vessels, which scar and lead to hardening of the arteries.

Metabolic Disruption Related to Sleep Apnea

Sleep is vital for the regulation of your body’s metabolism. When your sleep is disrupted, your metabolism can be, too.

As a result, if you have sleep apnea, you might experience:

• Weight gain
• Difficulty losing weight
• Diabetes

Weight gain can be particularly difficult to deal with because obesity contributes to your sleep apnea risk. But it can be hard to lose or even maintain your weight if you have sleep apnea.

Cognitive and Mood Disorders

Your brain relies on regenerative sleep perhaps more than any other organ in the body.

When your sleep is disrupted, you might experience consequences like:

• Memory problems and early onset dementia
• Difficulty focusing (or staying awake)
• Depression and other mood disorders

These can put you and others at risk. People with sleep apnea have an elevated risk of dangerous or deadly car accidents. They can be violent, and may harm others or themselves.