Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder, recognizable by a person’s breathing stopping or becoming shallow while they sleep. It’s an often-undiagnosed, serious disorder that at best can cause snoring, and at worst can lead to dangerous health problems.
The two types of sleep apnea are obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. In OSA, soft tissue in the throat collapses and blocks the airway while you sleep. CSA, however, is the result of instability in the respiratory control center of your brain. Here, the brain doesn’t send signals to your muscles which normally prompt you to breathe regularly during the night.
Symptoms
Common symptoms of sleep apnea can include:
- Sore or dry throat in the morning
- Snoring
- Daytime fatigue
- Driving sleepiness
- Insomnia
- Frequent waking during the night
- Forgetfulness
- Moodiness
- Decreased libido
Risk Factors
Anyone can suffer from sleep apnea, even children. However, higher risk factors include:
- Age over 40
- Being male
- Obesity or heaviness
- Large neck size
- Large tonsils and/or tongue
- Family history of sleep apnea
- Deviated septum
Effects
Sleep apnea should always be treated. If it goes ignored, it can cause a wide variety of health problems–some of them very serious. These can include:
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- Heart attacks
- Arrhythmia
- Diabetes
- Depression
- Headaches
- Worsened ADD and ADHD
What’s more, sleep apnea can contribute to poor work or school performance, and physical risks like vehicle accidents.
Recently, researchers also may have established a link between sleep apnea/other frequent sleeping disturbances and the likelihood for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Treatment
If you suspect that you have sleep apnea, speak to your doctor. He or she can set you up with a test to determine if you have sleep apnea. This can be done in a special center or in the comfort of your own home, depending on your needs.
Should you have mild sleep apnea, you may be able to treat it on your own. If you are overweight or have a lot of tissue in your neck and throat, you may want to work toward losing weight or toning muscle to keep the soft tissue there from collapsing over your airways. You should also avoid alcohol, smoking, and sleeping pills, which cause swelling or over-relaxation in your throat.
In more extreme cases, you may have to undergo surgery to correct throat obstructions or a nasal problems like a deviated septum.
Don’t let your sleep apnea go untreated! Be sure to talk to your doctor today.