Symptoms
- Loud snoring
- Headaches in the morning
- Waking up gasping for air
- Grogginess
- Trouble concentrating
- Irritability
- Depression
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
Causes
Surgical Treatments for Sleep Apnea
- Tissue Removal or Shrinkage. Radiofrequency Tissue Reduction: Using a newer surgical technique called radiofrequency surgery 20, surgeons remove tissue blocking the airway with a high-frequency current.
- Jaw Repositioning. ...
- Nasal Surgeries. ...
- Nerve Stimulation. ...
Prevention
Sleep apnea lifestyle remedies
- Maintain a healthy weight. Doctors commonly recommend people with sleep apnea to lose weight. ...
- Try yoga. Regular exercise can increase your energy level, strengthen your heart, and improve sleep apnea. ...
- Alter your sleep position. ...
- Use a humidifier. ...
- Avoid alcohol and smoking. ...
- Use oral appliances. ...
Complications
What Happens When Sleep Apnea Is Untreated
- Fatigue. Because Sleep apnea disrupts sleep and inhibits the ability to reach and stay in deep sleep throughout the night, the most obvious and common side effect is fatigue.
- Accidents. ...
- Cardiovascular Complications. ...
- Other Medical Conditions. ...
- Getting Help for Sleep Apnea. ...
Why treating your sleep apnea is so important?
What are the most effective treatments for sleep apnea?
How can you heal sleep apnea naturally?
What happens if you leave sleep apnea untreated?
Does obstructive sleep apnea treatment reduce cardiovascular risk?
However, accumulating evidence also suggests that successful treatment of OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) can improve cardiovascular outcomes. The association between OSA and cardiovascular disease and the potential impact of OSA-specific therapy on cardiovascular outcomes are discussed here.
Does sleep apnea improve health?
OSA is a treatable condition and effective treatment of OSA improves quality of life, improves physical and psychological health, and reduces costs and dangers to society.
What health risks are associated with sleep apnea?
High blood pressure or heart problems. Having obstructive sleep apnea increases your risk of high blood pressure (hypertension). Obstructive sleep apnea might also increase your risk of recurrent heart attack, stroke and abnormal heartbeats, such as atrial fibrillation.
What is the most serious potential consequences of sleep apnea?
There are serious potential consequences to undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea. Besides making sleep difficult, it can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and result in early death.
What are the benefits of sleep apnea treatment?
Treating Sleep Apnea Provides Six Key BenefitsBetter Sleep Refreshment. People with sleep apnea stop breathing up to 90 times an hour. ... Lower Risk of Heart Problems & Stroke. ... Reduced Risk of Depression. ... Lower Risk of Mortality. ... Better Management of Diabetes. ... Lower Risk of Cancer.
What happens after you treat sleep apnea?
If you stick with your treatment, Ramar says, you'll have less daytime sleepiness. You'll also lower your risk of more serious effects of sleep apnea, like heart attack, stroke, and things like motor vehicle accidents due to fatigue.
How does sleep apnea affect the heart?
It is thought that the frequent drops in low oxygen levels during sleep damages the blood vessels that supply the heart. Also each time the oxygen level drops, your body tells your heart to beat faster and your blood pressure to go up. Stress on the heart from severe OSA can also cause the heart to get enlarged.
Does sleep apnea reduce life expectancy?
Risks of obstructive sleep apnea Sleep apnea is dangerous because if untreated, it leads to high blood pressure and is associated with an increased chance of heart attack, abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure. Studies have shown that sleep apnea can decrease life expectancy by several years.
Does sleep apnea cause low oxygen levels?
Many patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have intermittent oxygen desaturation associated with periods of apnea or hypopnea. Oxygen saturation levels below 90% are considered harmful. Usually, treatment is directed at correcting the apnea, which will in turn prevent hypoxemia.
Does sleep apnea cause brain damage?
Severe sleep apnea is associated with brain damage and memory loss. Proper treatment can both prevent and reverse these complications. Sleep apnea is a chronic disorder characterized by repeated pauses in breathing during sleep.
What are the risks of sleep apnea?
What Are Common Sleep Apnea Risks? Snoring, periods of stopped breathing, insomnia, and hypersomnia are common symptoms and side effects of sleep apnea. Over time, these symptoms can lead to serious problems with your overall health, especially when sleep apnea goes untreated.
What are the long term effects of sleep apnea?
Heart problems are among the most serious long-term effects of sleep apnea due to additional risks of surgery, lifelong intensive treatment, and death.
Why is it important to get a sleep apnea diagnosis?
Seeking a proper diagnosis for sleep apnea can bring you one step closer to identifying the root cause of your sleep problems, and to becoming healthier and feeling more lively and energetic.
Why does sleep deprivation cause anxiety?
Lack of sleep can make you feel irritable and moody and cause problems in your interpersonal relationships and family life. Sleep deprivation also increases the body’s level of the stress hormone cortisol and upsets the balance of all other hormones and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine that regulate mood. As a result, chronic sleep apnea that goes untreated can eventually lead to the development of mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
Why is sleep important for the immune system?
Quality sleep is a major contributing factor to maintaining a strong immune system alongside proper nutrition, regular exercise, and effective stress management. Sleep deprivation associated with sleep apnea can weaken and suppress the functioning of the immune system to make you more susceptible to illness, infection, and disease.
What happens if you breathe paused during sleep apnea?
During episodes of paused breathing during sleep apnea, carbon dioxide levels in the blood increase to cause problems with insulin resistance and high blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes itself increases the risk of nerve damage, kidney damage, and limb amputation.
Is sleep a symptom of sleep apnea?
Daytime Sleepiness. Daytime sleepiness is both a symptom and a risk of sleep apnea. Also known as hypersomnia, daytime sleepiness can interfere with your performance at work or school, and make you too tired to fulfill important obligations related to spending time with loved ones, engaging in your favorite activities, and exercising.
Health Effects
Both breathing pauses and sleep deprivation can have a big impact on your health. Sleep apnea increases your risk of several health problems.
Treatment
There are many treatments for sleep apnea. It may take some trial and error to figure out what works best for you.
Summary
Sleep apnea does much more than make you tired the next day. It increases your risk of numerous health problems.
A Word From Verywell
You may not realize you have sleep apnea, especially if you sleep alone. If you have symptoms, like excessive daytime sleepiness, talk to your healthcare provider.
How to control sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea can disrupt your nightly slumber and put you at risk of several serious diseases, but there are ways to control it. Treatments, such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and oral appliances, help keep oxygen flowing into your lungs while you sleep.
What are the health problems associated with sleep apnea?
Many health conditions are linked to sleep apnea, including obesity and high blood pressure. These conditions, coupled with the lack of sleep, can harm many different systems in your body.
Why do people with sleep apnea have diabetes?
When your cells don’t take in insulin like they should, your blood sugar level rises and you can develop type 2 diabetes.
What is sleep apnea?
Luo, M.D. — Written by Stephanie Watson — Updated on July 5, 2019. Sleep apnea is a condition in which your breathing repeatedly pauses while you sleep. When this happens, your body wakes you up to resume breathing.
Is sleep apnea a metabolic disorder?
Sleep apnea has also been associated with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of heart disease risk factors that include high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol levels, high blood sugar levels, and a larger-than-normal waist circumference.
Does sleep apnea cause asthma?
By depriving your body of oxygen while you sleep, sleep apnea can worsen symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). You might find yourself short of breath or have more trouble exercising than usual.
Can sleep apnea cause heart disease?
Sleep apnea does more than make you sleepy, though. When left untreated, it can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and other long-term health risks. Share on Pinterest. Sleep apnea happens when your airway becomes blocked or collapses during the night.
How many children have sleep apnea?
As many as 10 to 20 percent of children who snore may have sleep apnea, and it is estimated to affect up to 3 percent of kids overall. In fact, all age groups can be affected by sleep apnea. If your child snores, bring it to the attention of a pediatrician.
What happens if you don't snore?
Other symptoms include gasping for air, choking and labored breathing at night. “The strongest sign is if someone tells you they’ve seen you stop breathing during sleep—called ‘witnessed sleep apnea,’ ” says one Johns Hopkins sleep expert. Waking up with a headache is another little-known yet common sign of sleep apnea. So is awakening to a dry mouth or raspy throat. If you have these symptoms, alert your primary care provider.
Is sleep apnea a men's condition?
For one thing, says sleep expert Susheel P. Patil, M.D., Ph.D., women are more reluctant to bring up their snoring with their doctor. Also, women’s snoring may go unnoticed by their partner, since it’s often not as loud as men’s.
Can snoring go unnoticed?
Also, women’s snoring may go unnoticed by their partner, since it’s often not as loud as men’s. And women may report different symptoms, such as insomnia, morning headaches, mood disturbances, lack of energy and sleepiness—symptoms that can signal any number of issues, thereby making the cause difficult to diagnose.
Is obesity a risk factor for sleep apnea?
“Far and away, obesity is the biggest risk factor for sleep apnea,” says sleep expert Susheel P. Patil, M.D., Ph.D. But patients who are normal weight or only slightly overweight can have it too. Facial and neck anatomy may also play a role: At increased risk are people with large tonsils, a small jaw, a large overbite, a recessed chin or a large neck, for instance.
Can sleep apnea cause snoring?
In people with sleep apnea, breathing during sleep is interrupted many times a night, often resulting in nighttime snoring—and daytime symptoms of sleep deprivation. People who snore but feel refreshed the next day, though, may just have “simple snoring,” not sleep apnea. Still, it’s worth broaching the subject with your physician, who can better determine whether there’s cause for concern. Some people appear to require less sleep and may not feel tired or sleepy during the day, which can mask a real sleep apnea problem and cause them to delay proper identification and treatment, says one Johns Hopkins sleep expert.
What is the best treatment for obstructive sleep apnea?
One of the most popular solutions to treat obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea is the use of a positive airway pressure (PAP) machine. The most common of these machines is a continuous airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which provides a constant flow of air to your air passages, allowing you to breathe continuously.
How does sleep apnea affect the body?
Sleep apnea can affect your body in a number of ways. Most noticeably, sleep apnea can cause chronic loud snoring. Along with snoring, you may find yourself waking in the night, gasping for air. Sleep apnea often results in periods of not breathing, which may go unnoticed if unsupervised. This is often accompanied by waking up with a headache or dry mouth. 2 Often, people who suffer from central sleep apnea report restlessness and insomnia as the primary side effect of sleep apnea. 3
What is the most common form of sleep apnea?
Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of sleep apnea. It occurs when the throat muscles relax while sleeping, which causes the airways to narrow, making breathing difficult. The second type of sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, is brought about by the brain not sending signals to the body to breathe correctly during sleep, ...
What are the risk factors for sleep apnea?
There are many factors that can put people at risk for developing sleep apnea. Sleep apnea risk factors are varied, but can include obesity, being male, and the use of sedatives. 1. There are three types of sleep apnea. These are: obstructive sleep apne a, central sleep apnea, and complex sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form ...
Is sleep apnea a mixture?
Lastly, there is complex sleep apnea, which is a mixture of the first two types of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can cause sleep deprivation and lack of sleep effects both your mind and body.
Is it bad to leave sleep apnea untreated?
Leaving sleep apnea untreated can be dangerous. Untreated sleep apnea can disrupt your mood and lead to serious physical health repercussions, including problems with heart function and high blood pressure.
Does sleep apnea affect concentration?
Many people with sleep apnea report that poor sleep leads to daytime sleepiness. This excessive daytime fatigue may affect concentration and the ability to be attentive and feel present.
What is the best treatment for sleep apnea?
Therapies to address sleep apnea include: continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) that uses air pressure to keep your airways open during sleep. oral device or mouthpiece designed to keep your throat open while sleeping.
What causes sleep apnea?
According to the Mayo Clinic, obstructive sleep apnea can also be caused by conditions associated with obesity, such as polycystic ovary syndrome and hypothyroidism.
What is AHI in sleep?
The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) measures obstructive sleep apnea to determine a range from mild to severe, based on the number of breathing pauses per hour you have while sleeping . Read on to learn more about severe sleep apnea and how it’s treated.
Why does my breathing stop?
Obstructive sleep apnea is a severe sleep disorder. It causes breathing to stop and start repeatedly while you sleep. With sleep apnea, the muscles in your upper airway relax while you’re sleeping. This causes your airways to become blocked off, keeping you from getting enough air. This may cause your breathing to pause for 10 seconds ...
What percentage of children have sleep apnea?
The ASAA estimates that between 1 and 4 percent of American children have sleep apnea. Although surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids is the most common treatment for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea, positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy and oral appliances are also prescribed.
How long does it take for your breathing to stop?
You’re considered to have severe sleep apnea if your breathing stops and restarts more than 30 times an hour.
What does it mean when you stop breathing while sleeping?
episodes of stopped breathing while sleeping. abrupt awakenings from sleep that are frequently accompanied by gasping or choking. Your doctor may refer you to a sleep specialist, a medical doctor with additional training and education in sleep medicine.
