Table of Contents
What is the main cause of sleep apnea?
Anything that could narrow your airway such as obesity, large tonsils, or changes in your hormone levels can increase your risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea happens when your brain does not send the signals needed to breathe. Sleep apnea, particularly when the disorder goes undiagnosed or untreated, has been linked to a wide-array of health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even glaucoma, and it may also increase your risk of death. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, moderate sleep apnea increases your risk of death by 17%. The impact on life expectancy with untreated severe sleep apnea is even more profound: It roughly doubles your risk of death. Snoring is often associated with a sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Not all snorers have OSA, but if snoring is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, it may be an indication to see a doctor for further evaluation for OSA: Witnessed breathing pauses during sleep. Excessive daytime sleepiness. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when a child stops breathing during sleep. The cessation of breathing usually occurs because there is a blockage (obstruction) in the airway. Obstructive sleep apnea affects many children and is most commonly found in children between 2 and 6 years of age, but can occur at any age. If left untreated, obstructive sleep apnea can shorten your life from anywhere between 12-15 years. While there is no permanent cure for obstructive sleep apnea, diagnosis and treatment will alleviate its effects.
What is the root cause of sleep apnea?
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the back of your throat relax too much to allow normal breathing. These muscles support structures including the back of the roof of your mouth (soft palate), the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula), the tonsils and the tongue. Sleep Apnea and Stress The blocked airways that result from obstructive sleep apnea are caused by the abnormal relaxation of the throat muscles during sleep. Stress does not cause obstructive sleep apnea directly, but it can worsen your symptoms. “Stress can make some of the symptoms of sleep apnea worse. CPAP and oral appliances work well, but they’re not cures for sleep apnea. The only sure way to rid yourself of the condition for good is to either lose weight or have surgery to remove excess tissue from the palate or throat. Surgery can have side effects, which is why it’s usually viewed as a last resort. Gasping and choking: Waking up feeling short of breath, gasping for air or with the sensation that you’re choking. Feeling bad when you wake up: Morning headaches, dry throat and mouth, and a severely sore throat in the morning. Difficulty sleeping: Waking up frequently, feeling restless at night and insomnia. A good pillow can help improve comfort for sleep apnea patients while also reducing the risk of face mask air leaks. Some pillow designs feature indents for CPAP masks and hoses, and others are crafted to keep sleepers comfortable on their backs.
How does sleep apnea happen?
Anything that could narrow your airway such as obesity, large tonsils, or changes in your hormone levels can increase your risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea happens when your brain does not send the signals needed to breathe. Obstructive sleep apnea can also contribute to weight gain and obesity. Research has shown that approximately 40 percent of the people living with obesity also have obstructive sleep apnea, and 70 percent of people with obstructive sleep apnea are obese. Stress can make you more susceptible to a number of medical conditions, including sleep apnea. Do you often toss and turn in your bed after a stressful day? Stress can both affect your sleep quality and increase your risk of having sleep disorders like sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with psychiatric pathology. Psychiatric comorbidity in OSA may affect patient quality of life and adherence to CPAP.
Is sleep apnea a serious health condition?
Over time, sleep apnea can lead to serious or even deadly complications, so early diagnosis and treatment are vital. This condition is often very treatable and there are many treatment options. The most common — and most effective — treatments, especially positive airway pressure devices, are meant for use every night. Obtain a Prescription You should have a prescription from a doctor to obtain the home sleep apnea test. First, you need to schedule an appointment with your primary care physician or a sleep specialist, who will ask you about your symptoms and pre-screen you for obstructive sleep apnea. It’s estimated that patients with sleep apnea are 2-4 times more likely to develop heart arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) than people without this condition. Sleep apnea increases the risk of heart failure by 140% and the risk of coronary heart disease by 30%. Concurrent elevations of HbA1c, CRP, and EPO levels should generate a high suspicion of OSA and may have utility as an OSA screening tool. Biomarker combinations correlate with OSA severity and, therefore, may assist sleep centers in identifying and triaging higher risk patients for sleep study diagnosis and treatment.
Is sleep apnea serious?
Sleep apnea is a dangerous condition because it can cause several different complications, many of which are severe or life-threatening. These include: Heart damage and heart failure. Sleep apnea causes an increase in pressure in the blood vessels around your heart and on some of the chambers of your heart itself. Tests to detect sleep apnea include: Nocturnal polysomnography. During this test, you’re hooked up to equipment that monitors your heart, lung and brain activity, breathing patterns, arm and leg movements, and blood oxygen levels while you sleep. If you think you may have OSA, talk to your clinician about any symptoms (feeling tired during the day, snoring/choking/gasping while asleep) and whether anyone has witnessed pauses in your breathing while you sleep. OSA is a chronic disease that involves repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep. These breathing pauses can prevent your body from supplying enough oxygen to the brain. In severe cases this lack of oxygen can lead to brain damage. Signs of this damage include memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and moodiness.
How to avoid sleep apnea?
To eliminate snoring and prevent sleep apnea, your doctor may recommend a device called a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. A CPAP machine delivers just enough air pressure to a mask to keep your upper airway passages open, preventing snoring and sleep apnea. But snoring that is loud, frequent, and accompanied by gasping, choking, or pauses in breathing may be a sign of sleep apnea. With typical snoring, breathing continues uninterrupted. With sleep apnea, though, breathing is repeatedly disrupted, causing multiple partial awakenings. When Should You See a Doctor About Snoring? Many instances of snoring are benign, but it’s important to talk with a doctor if there are signs of potential sleep apnea: Snoring that occurs three or more times per week. Very loud or bothersome snoring. According to sleep specialist Rafael Pelayo of the Stanford Sleep Medicine Center, sleep apnea can start at any age, but does occur more often as we age. “But it’s not normal at any age”, Pelayo states. “When we’re awake, we don’t snore. More About Sleep Apnea More specifically, yoga can help to reduce the symptoms of sleep apnea because yoga breathing exercises help to strengthen, tone, and open the upper airway muscles, and can significantly reduce stress and calm the mind, which can lead to better overall life quality.
Who can diagnose sleep apnea?
If a GP thinks you might have sleep apnoea, they may refer you to a specialist sleep clinic for tests. At the clinic, you may be given devices that check things like your breathing and heartbeat while you sleep. You’ll be asked to wear these overnight so doctors can check for signs of sleep apnoea. You may or may not already be aware that in-lab sleep studies and at-home sleep tests are a surefire way to get obstructive sleep apnea diagnosed, and cardiologists are licensed to have patients tested for sleep apnea because there are several tell-tale signs of the sleep disorder that could be hiding in your … While a pillow on its own won’t cure your sleep apnea, it can potentially lessen the number of apneas you experience or make it more comfortable to wear your treatment through the night, greatly improving sleep quality and how you feel the next day. Just because ignoring sleep apnea can be dangerous, doesn’t mean that you need to be scared if you do have it. Sleep apnea is extremely manageable when treated properly. This is why it only makes sense to get yourself checked and diagnosed if you do show signs of apnea. If you have sleep apnea, you’re more likely to have fatty liver disease, liver scarring, and higher-than-normal levels of liver enzymes. Apnea can also worsen heartburn and other symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which can interrupt your sleep even more. In general, obstructive sleep apnea is a chronic condition that does not go away on its own.
Can sleep apnea cause sudden death?
Sleep apnoea is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and all-cause sudden death, with a marginally significant dose–response relationship, where those with severe sleep apnoea are at the highest risk of mortality. The impact on life expectancy with untreated severe sleep apnea is even more profound: It roughly doubles your risk of death. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, studies have established that sleep apnea typically decreases life expectancy by several years. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can negatively affect the patient’s physical and psychological functioning, as well as their quality of life. A major consequence of OSA is impaired cognitive functioning. Can You Die in Your Sleep From Obstructive Sleep Apnea? Although uncommon, it is possible to die during sleep. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov from untreated obstructive sleep apnea. Observational research has found that OSA increases a person’s risk of sudden death. If you’ve ever awakened yourself with a sudden snore — or if your partner nudges you awake to get you to turn over — it’s possible you could be affected by sleep apnea, which is associated with high blood pressure, arrhythmia, stroke and heart failure. Studies have shown that taking a combination of vitamin C and vitamin E can reduce the number of apnea episodes in the night. They also improve sleep quality and reduce the amount of daytime sleepiness.