Sleep Apnea: A Sleep Disorder

Sleep is crucial for one’s overall health and well-being. Sleep rejuvenates the body to be fit and ready for another day. There are a lot of excellent benefits health professionals associate with sleep, such as better concentration and productivity at work, better physical performance, lower heart risk, and the list goes on. However, a lot suffer from sleep disorders.

girl sleeping on desk

According to American Sleep Association, 50 to 70 million Americans adults suffer from sleep disorders, and 25 million of them suffer from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep for 10 seconds or more.

When diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, the treatment of choice is an airway pressure device called CPAP. It is a mask that fits over your nose and mouth that blows air into the airway that will help you during your sleep. WellAwareSystems can help you choose the best CPAP machine for you.

Before getting all worked up about sleep apnea, you shoud know more about what are the causes and effects of this disorder are.

Causes:

Physical Structure

Overweight or obesity can cause this disorder as there is an increased fat deposit in their necks that can block the upper airway.

Medical Conditions

Several medical conditions can cause sleep apnea:endocrine disorders, neuromascular conditions, heart or kidney failure, genetic syndrome, and premature birth. All these conditions can cause sleep apnea because they can also block the upper airway.

If left untreated, there are several health risks from sleep apnea.

Effects and Complications:

High-blood pressure

Sleep apnea can make your high blood pressure worse. When you don’t get enough sleep or wake several times during the night, your body gets stressed, and this can boost your blood pressure.

Heart Failure or Heart Disease

Sleep apnea disrupts the intake of oxygen, which makes it hard for the brain to control the blood flow in the arteries.

Cognitive and Behavioral Disorders

With lack of sleep, a decrease in attention, attentiveness and concentration occurs, this could result in low performance at work, risk of fatal accidents.

If you think you have sleep apnea, get yourself checked immediately by your doctor. Also, it would be best to make some lifestyle changes while you’re at it. You can do the following: make healthy food choices, be physically active, aim for a healthy weight, quit smoking, minimize your intake of alcoholic drinks, and develop a healthy sleeping habit.