In
the middle of every night, do you suddenly wake up choking
and gasping for air? It can not be due to a nightmare every
night. You definitely need to look into the matter as you
might be suffering from a sleepdisorder known
as Sleep Apnea.
In the night, does your snoring often make your partner wake
up? And in the mornings, are headaches and a dry mouth
regular occurrences? As soon as you experience these
symptoms, its time to see a doctor, you may be suffering
from Sleep Apnea!
Sleep Apnea is a type of sleeping disorder. The word
"apnea" is a Greek word, it's meaning, "want of breath".
Sleep Apnea is a disorder that causes disruption of
breathing during sleep. Your breathing either becomes slow
or stops completely during sleep. The frequency of
disruption can range up to 20 times in an hour. The duration
of disruption can last up to 20 seconds, bringing you close
to death.
Sleep Apnea devastates your sleeping routine. It also
affects your body. There are three categories of sleep
apnea. All three are equally lethal.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a widely prevalent type of
sleep apnea. It's caused when your airway gets
obstructed due to relaxation of the muscles of the soft
palate around the base of tongue. When the airway gets
obstructed, it lowers the level of oxygen in the blood and
leads to a condition known as hypoxia. It also elevates the
blood pressure and increases stress on your heart. These
conditions prevent the patient from entering into sound
sleep. This makes a person suffer from lack of quality
sleep. A person suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea
snores in the night and wakes up choking several times and
tries desperately to sleep again.
Central Sleep Apnea
Central Sleep Apnea is not common. It is marked by a brain
signal flaw. In Central Sleep Apnea, the brain's signals
instructing the body to breathe get flawed. As a result of
this delayed signal to breathe, throat breathing, abdominal
breathing and oral breathing cease simultaneously. Though
the duration of interruption lasts a few seconds, it lowers
the oxygen supply to blood and tissues significantly. A
person suffering from central sleepapnea
experiences high blood pressure, irregular heart beat and
even heart stroke.
Mixed Sleep Apnea
Mixed Sleep Apnea is a condition characterized by a person
experiencing the combination of symptoms of the two Sleep
Apnea conditions— Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Central Sleep
Apnea.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is highly prevalent and common in
people suffering from Sleep Apnea disorder. Let's look deep
into the symptoms, causes and treatments required for
Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
Causes
There can be several causes that lead to the obstruction of
your airway passage during sleep, leading to Obstructive
Sleep Apnea. One of the major reasons is that your throat
muscles and tongue relax and shrink excessively than normal.
If you are overweight, the soft tissue in your throat can
become stiff and enlarged and causes obstruction in the
airway passage. The other reasons could be increased size of
your adenoids and tonsils, which further contribute in the
disruption of flow of air.
Symptoms
The common symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea are choking
and gasping for air several times in the night. Snoring
loudly is also among a number of symptoms of Obstructive
Sleep Apnea. If you suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea, you
would experience sleepiness during the daytime as well. You
would not be able to concentrate and would suffer from dry
throat and headache in the mornings. Among other symptoms
are rapid weight gain, lethargy, high blood pressure, and
lack of concentration and even depression.
Treatments
There are many treatments available for Obstructive Sleep
Apnea. The common ones are losing weight, avoiding alcohol
consumption during the evening and sleeping on your
side. Medical treatments include Continuous Positive Airway
Pressure (CPAP) and Oxygen Administration. Surgeries are
also performed and tracheostomy is a surgery used in
treatment of severe Sleep Apnea conditions.
If you feel you are displaying symptoms of sleep
apnea you should visit your doctor immediately for
formal diagnosis.
