Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a progressive disorder in which a person repeatedly stops breathing during sleep. It may take a few seconds or even a few minutes for a person to begin breathing again. This process of stopping and starting breathing can reoccur several times during a single nights sleep, causing many negative effects in the short term and long term if not treated.
An ‘apneic' can be put into one of three sleep apnea categories:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): Obstructions within a person's upper airways are responsible here. An obstruction can be anything from enlarged tonsils and adenoids, to fat tissues, tissue inflammation, or even the tongue falling back over the airways. Upon entering REM sleep, the tissues and muscles within the airways aren't contracted as they are during sleep and the relaxation can result in the airways closing or nearly closing. Eventually, after wheezing, snorting, snoring or struggling for breath a person will typically gasp aloud and begin breathing again. This cycle can repeat itself all throughout the night. It is in fact the brain which takes an emergency measure by moving a person out of REM sleep, contracting the upper airways once more to allow a person to breathe.
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA): Obstructions aren't responsible for this type of sleep apnea, but dysfunctional brain signals. A person's brain automatically controls the lungs, instructing them to breathe. It is an automatic process. In a Central Sleep Apnea sufferer, for some reason, the brain stops sending the automatic signals to the lungs, therefore all breathing action ceases. It may take a few seconds or a few minutes for a person to begin breathing again, as the brain takes the emergency measure of moving a person out of REM sleep so breathing can begin once more.
Mixed Sleep Apnea (MSA): If a person suffers from both OSA and CSA, then they are put in this category.
In a sleep apnea sufferer, the brain must disrupt deep REM sleep to prevent a person from suffocating and dying, but the result is a person never gets enough good REM sleep, but sleeps lightly and badly. Lack of quality sleep can be bad enough to bear for one day, but for persistent sufferers this can be a recurring issue every night taking a severe toll mentally and physically in both the short and long term.
Some of the short term effects of sleep apnea are:
- Persistent tiredness
- Lack of energy
- Lack of concentration
- Irritability
- Headaches due to oxygen starvation during sleep
- Heartburn
- Mood swings
- Depression
- Cognitive impairment
Some of the long term effects of sleep apnea are:
- Gradually worsening apnea symptoms and state of sleep
- High Blood Pressure
- Arterial disease due to persistent high blood pressure
- Irregular Heart Rhythm / Heart Murmurs
- Increased susceptibility to stroke or heart attack
- Heart disease due to persistent high blood pressure
- Heart failure due to the persistently increased stress placed on the heart which constantly tries to work extra hard forcing the lungs to draw breath in Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Weight gain and obesity as the metabolism slows and also because of tiredness and a lack of energy a person is far less likely to be so physically active during their waking hours
- Sexual disorders such as impotence and decreased libido
- Onset of Type 2 Diabetes
Tiredness and the effects of tiredness also put a person at much greater risk of becoming involved in an accident at work or on the road. Sleep apnea not only disrupts the sufferers sleep but any partner who may share their bed will be affected by these constant disruptions, placing them in more jeopardy also.
You're partner has more of a chance of recognising the symptoms of sleep apnea whilst you are asleep, but during you waking hours you may be familiar with some of the aforementioned symptoms. If you have an incline you don't sleep well, and feel any of the symptoms mentioned within this article there is a chance you suffer from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a very serious disorder which will only get worse with time increasing the risks to health and accidents from tiredness. You should make an appointment to see your G.P. for a diagnosis and begin a course of treatment as soon as possible.
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Sleep Apnea and Weight Gain
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