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What Is Sleep Apnea?

What is Sleep Apnea?

Are you feeling sleepy all the time? Do you snore? Is your doctor having a difficult time treating your high blood pressure? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you might have Sleep Apnea (also called Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA). There are four main categories for Treating Sleep Apnea

Sleep Apnea is a condition involving pauses or decreases in breathing during sleep. It is usually due to airway collapse. This collapse occurs in the nose and/or the throat – anywhere from where air enters the nostrils to the back of the tongue.

Loud Snoring. Almost all people who have sleep apnea snore, but not all people who snore have sleep apnea.

Imagine a straw collapsing when trying to suck on a thick milkshake. Frequently, this airway collapsibility problem is inherited and starts in childhood. In the daytime, it is not a problem because there is good muscle-tone in the airway and the brain monitors breathing. But at night, the throat muscles become relaxed and the brain is not as attentive to the airway.

So on inhalation, the airway walls can either completely collapse or significantly narrow. This is a problem because 1) the body must struggle to breathe and 2) the brain has to “wake up” to reopen the airway.

These frequent awakenings lead to fragmentation of nighttime sleep. You may not remember them because they are so short.

In fact, patients with sleep apnea can wake-up more than 30 times an hour and think that they slept uninterrupted through the night. Since sleep must be continuous and consolidated in order to be restorative, a number of cognitive problems can occur with sleep fragmentation.

What is Sleep Apnea Cognitive Problems?

* Daytime Sleepiness

* Memory Problems * Concentration Difficulties

* Emotional Instability

* Irritability

* Slowed Reaction Time * And most importantly, an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents.

There are also cardiovascular consequences of this constant “struggling to breathe.” This puts a strain on the heart and blood vessels, leading to increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. You can prevent this from happening with sleep apnea surgery.

Finally, there are social implications to Sleep Apnea. The snoring associated with sleep apnea can disrupt the sleep of others. In fact, one study showed that when a person treats his/her sleep apnea, the sleep partner gets the equivalent of one hour more sleep per night.

Sleep apnea is a progressive disease and often gets worse with age. Weight gain, alcohol, and other sedating/relaxing substances exacerbate it.

Who Gets Sleep Apnea?

A common misconception is that only overweight men that snore loudly have sleep apnea, but the facts are:

1) Sleep apnea can occur without snoring

2) Thin people can have sleep apnea

3) Women can have sleep apnea

4) Children can have sleep apnea

In other words, anyone can have it. Even skinny women. Even children.

I think I have all the symptoms for sleep apnea, but how can I be sure?

Make an appointment with your primary care physician,and don't be afraid to ask, what is sleep apnea and can I get tested for it, or if your insurance allows it, go straight to a sleep specialist. If your physician thinks you might have sleep apnea, then he/she can refer you for a sleep study or comprehensive sleep evaluation.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Fromherz

This site is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. If you feel that you have a health problem, you should seek the advice of your Physician or Health care Practitioner.

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