Sleep Apnea Disorder
Sleep apnea is a potentially life-threatening sleep disorder that causes the breathing of the affected individual to recurrently cease and start. People with sleep apnea usually snore loudly and feel tired even after a complete night's sleep. Sleep apnea falls under two main categories:
- Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common type of apnea that takes place when the throat muscles slacken
- Central sleep apnea, that takes place when the patient’s brain fails to send the right signals to the muscles that manipulate breathing.
In some cases, some people may also experience complex sleep apnea, which is a mix of both the obstructive sleep apnea as well as the central sleep apnea. If you suspect that you might be suffering from sleep apnea, please see your medical practitioner as soon as possible to prevent heart troubles and other complications.
In many cases, doctors have observed that the signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apneas coincide partially or wholly, making the diagnosis of the type of sleep apnea hard to select.
Some distinctive signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apneas are:
- Abnormal and immoderate daytime drowsiness (inability to stay awake)
- Breathing loudly and noisily during one's sleep, which is often seen in obstructive sleep apnea
- Observed sequences of breathing inactivity during sleep
- Sudden awakenings followed by abruptness of breath, which is a likely indication of central sleep apnea
- Waking up with a parched mouth or pharyngitis
- Trouble staying asleep (an inability to sleep; chronic sleeplessness)
It is important to see a medical professional if you notice yourself or your partner breathing loudly and noisily causing an interruption in the sleep of people around you or yourself; lack of breath causing one to awaken from sleep, sporadic interruptions in breathing during sleep, unreasonable daytime sleepiness, causing one to fall asleep while actively engaged in work, looking attentively at television at times during driving.
Most people do not consider snoring as a dangerous sign and in some cases it has been observed that not everyone who experiences sleep apnea also snores. However, be sure to consult your doctor if you go through loud snoring, particularly they type of snoring that is emphasized by intervals of silence.
For initial cases of sleep apnea, your medical professional may advocate lifestyle modifications like losing excessive weight if you are obese or ceasing to smoke if you are a smoker. If these measures do not improve the snoring and the symptoms, or if the sleep apnea goes from being a moderate case to an intense one, a number of treatments are likely to be prescribed depending upon the cause for the recurrent snoring and periods of silence. In some cases, specific devices can detect and open up a barred airway. In rare cases, surgery may be required.
