Literally, sleep apnea is a disorder where you can not breathe in sleep. Sadly, this type of disorder is increasing its popularity among people nowadays. Personally, I know a middle-aged gentleman at my workplace who suffers from sleep apnea disorder, thus, I’ve witnessed how annoying it can be. His sleep apnea was so serious that he must resort to a breathing machine to assist him, or he will die while sleeping.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with it, it is a disorder characterized by a decline or pause of breathing while asleep. As said before it’s quite common among adults however it’s very rare among children. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes (severe cases). They can happen 5 to 35 times or more per hour. Eventually normal breathing will start back again with a loud grunt. There are three types of disorder: Central, Obstructive and Complex Sleep Apnea.
Sleep apnea usually is a persistent (chronic) condition that interrupts your sleep. As a result, it moves you out of deep sleep into light sleep when breathing pauses. Because of poor sleep quality the consequences are that you become sleepy during the day.
The symptoms are:
The most common symptom of obstructive sleep apnea is deafening and constant snoring with countless pauses. Typically after the pauses, choking and gasping may follow. Keep in mind that not everyone that snores has sleep apnea. Another familiar symptom of sleep apnea is fighting drowsiness during the day, at work, or while driving. In severe cases, people tend to sleep after sitting a couple of minutes still. Other symptoms are regular headaches, insomnia, concentration problems, depression, and memory problems.
Treatments are:
There is no definitive cure for this disorder yet, nevertheless to acquire regular breathing during sleep and reduce snoring and drowsiness changes must be made starting with your lifestyle. Sleep apnea in severe cases mostly is due to overweight. Extra fat around the neck makes the airway narrower, making it more likely for sleeping disruptions so losing weight can most definitely be an effective treatment. However this doesn’t mean that thin people won’t get it too. Other treatments include, don’t consume excessive alcohol, don’t sleep on your back preferably on your side, quit smoking and use nasal spray to keep your nasal passages open.
Surgery is a common treatment as well. It is done by widening the breathing passages by reduce, stiffening, or removing excess tissue in the mouth and throat. In children’s cases, removing the tonsils may be quite helpful. In many cases, treatment has improved the quality of sleep, health problems and cheerfulness in general.