In our last post, we discussed the 5 most common sleep disorders. We are now going to further discuss the dangers of sleep apnea and why it is important to get diagnosis and treatment.
Sleep apnea is when you stop breathing during sleep – often several times a night for a short period of time. The pauses in breath usually last for a few seconds or minutes, and breathing begins again after a loud snort.
Sleep apnea is very common, impacting more than 18 million Americans, according to the National Sleep Foundation. If untreated, sleep apnea could lead to serious health issues.
Patients with sleep apnea are often sleep deprived and suffer from symptoms of sleeplessness. Sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression, and weight gain. It can also cause job impairment and car accidents from falling asleep at the wheel – a result of sleeplessness.
Not getting enough sleep, and especially disruptive sleep, hurts your body. During sleep, your body is restoring itself. But disruptive sleep causes several systems in the body to go into overtime, such as the hormone systems, which boosts your blood pressure levels. Waking up in the night is also linked to low oxygen levels and the irregular heartbeat. Sleep apnea is also becoming more common in children – read more about sleep apnea in children.
Not sure if you suffer from sleep apnea? Symptoms of sleep apnea can include snoring, waking up out of breath, waking up with dry mouth or headache. If you sleep with a partner, ask them if they’ve noticed loud snoring or snorting, a sign of difficulty breathing during sleep. Download SomnologyMobileDoc and complete the introductory questionnaire to see if your symptoms align with that of sleep apnea. Talk to your doctor right away about any warning signs or symptoms of sleep apnea.
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