Home

Do You Have Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder. Having it causes your breathing during to be interupted during sleep. You actually stop beathing up to 10 or more seconds at a time, not only that but it can happen 1 to even 50 times per hour as you try to get some rest. This leads to you waking up 3 or more times in the middle of the night.

It is catagorized into two types:

  • Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common. This is caused by a blockage in your airway, usually due to soft tissue in the back of the throat collapsing during sleep.
  • Central sleep apnea where the the airway is not blocked, but caused from your brain failling to signal your muscles to breathe.

This problem affects between 2 and 10% of all people. It is impossible to determine how many people actually suffer from sleep apnea because most people who have it go untreated. It is most common amongst espescially men over 40, and a smaller percentage of women as well being more common to those after menopause.

How to tell if you have sleep apnea?

If you are overwieght, over 40 (although people below that age do suffer from it), if you have a particularly large neck about 17 inches or more, throat issues or even large tonsils, or a history of such sleeping disorders you could possible have sleep apnea.

You could be putting yourself at risk if you are a smoker, heavy alcohol drinker, have unusual sleep patterns due to an irregualr work schedule, or if you have or have a history of lung disease in your family.

The previous were the subtle yet most noticable signs, however the issue is that people can’t always determine if they have sleep apnea because the damage is done while you sleep. The unrealized but key warning signs are:

  • Morning headaches
  • Forgetfullness and/or consentration issues
  • Being sleepy in the day time
  • Waking to a choking or gasping sensation. Or even waking up with a sore throat.
  • Loud snoring (however many people who snore do not have sleep apnea but most who do have sleep apnea snore)
  • Constantly waking up in the middle of the night
  • Insomnia
  • Having anxiety, irratibility, or depression

Having this disorder is nothing to sleep on (mainly because you can’t), although it may not seem so serious because it is often unnoticed. In the long run however, it can lead to very serious health issues. If you think you may have it please contact your doctor to be properly diagnosed.

As a youngster with sleep apnea you may suffer academic underachievement and poor proformance in everyday activity. But more seriously it can lead to a stroke, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and sudden death.

If you think you have sleep apnea try asking your spouse or someone close to you to watch you while you sleep to see if they can catch any symptoms. Or contact your doctor or dentist to either determine if you have a sleeping dissorder and whether or not a lifestyle change is in order or a more serious treatment.

My name is Markel Pitt and I am a college marketing student who has once fallen victim to sleep disorders, one of which was sleep apnea. My ever growing fascination with earning a living on the internet and my issues with sleep lead me to create the site sleepingmillions.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/do-you-have-sleep-apnea-1112660.html

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Share this:

Read also:


August 11th, 2009 | Category: Sleep Solutions | Comments Off
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.



« No More Tossing and Turning with the Tempurpedic Pillow
Tempurpedic Pillows : Relieve Snoring with Tempurpedic Pillows »
53 queries in 0.527 seconds