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Sleep Apnea - Are You At Risk?


People with sleep apnea have short pauses in breathing while they are asleep, sometimes for as long as 10-60 seconds – and the amount of oxygen in the blood drops, often to very low levels. This alerts the brain, causing a brief arousal (awakening) and breathing resumes. These stoppages of breathing can occur repeatedly, causing multiple sleep disruptions throughout the night and result in excessive daytime sleepiness and impaired daytime function.

You can have sleep apnea and not even know it. Untreated sleep apnea puts a person at risk for cardiovascular disease, headaches, memory loss and depression. It is a serious disorder that is easily treated.

Symptoms

The most common symptom of sleep apnea is snoring. However, not everyone who snores has sleep apnea. Common symptoms of sleep apnea include:

  • Loud or frequent snoring

  • Silent pauses in breathing

  • Choking or gasping sounds

  • Daytime sleepiness or fatigue

  • Unrefreshing sleep

  • Insomnia

  • Morning headaches

  • Nocturia (waking during the night to go to the bathroom)

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Memory loss

  • Decreased sexual desire

  • Irritability

Risk Factors

The major risk factor for sleep apnea is excess body weight. You are much more likely to have sleep apnea if you are overweight or obese. However, sleep apnea can occur in slim people too.

Common risk factors for sleep apnea include:

  • Excess weight – Your risk for sleep apnea is higher if you are overweight

  • Large neck size - Your risk for sleep apnea is higher if you have a neck size of 17 inches or more for men, or 16 inches or more for women. A large neck has more soft tissue that can block your airway during sleep.

  • Male gender – Sleep apnea is more common in men than in women. For women the risk of sleep apnea increases with menopause.

  • Hypertension – High blood pressure is extremely common in people who have sleep apnea.

  • Family history – Sleep apnea is a heritable condition. This means that you have a higher risk of sleep apnea if a family member also has it. Inherited traits that increase the risk for sleep apnea include obesity and physical features such as a recessed jaw.

Is There A Cure?

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is a mask or device that fits over the nose and mouth. It blows air into the airways to keep them open at night.

CPAP works well—but not everyone who needs it is willing to commit to wearing the clunky apparatus. Half or more of people who try CPAP don’t stick with the treatment, research has found.

Thorax elevation of over 30 degrees has proven to be more effective than CPAP machines for Sleep Apnea. Try lifting the head end of the bed or better yet, consider an adjustable bed.

CPAP and adjustable beds 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.

If you experience snoring on a regular basis and it can be heard from another room or you have been told you stop breathing or make loud or gasping noises during your sleep, these are signs that you might have sleep apnea and it should be discussed with your doctor.

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