Sleep apnea is a serious health concern can lead to heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, fatigue and other disorders. Sleep apnea affects more people than asthma, yet far fewer people have heard of it and even fewer see their physician about it.
Snoring and Sleep Apneas
Snoring is actually only one of the symptoms of sleep apnea which is sometimes called the snoring disease. But snoring alone doesn't necessarily diagnose sleep apnea. Other symptoms include:
- Daytime sleepiness
- Loud snoring followed by silent pauses
- Gasping or choking during sleep
- Waking up several times during sleep
- Morning headache
- Falling asleep during the day
- Irritability or mood changes
- Poor concentration or memory loss
For treatment options for snoring and sleep apnea, see this article called "Stop Snoring."
Causes of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes breathing to stop for short repeated intervals. These breathing pauses or apneas usually last 10 to 30 seconds and can occur at any time during sleep. There are two types of apneas. A central occurs when the messages from the brain delay or pause breathing patterns. The most common type of snoring is obstructive sleep apnea. This happens when the upper airway or throat gets partially or fully blocked during sleep, often because the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses and closes during sleep.
During sleep, the muscles of the body relax, including muscles of the upper respiratory system. Occasionally, the passages will become so narrow that air will not flow through smoothly, causing the airway tissues to vibrate – snoring. If the airways narrow even beyond that and close completely at intervals, then an apnea has developed. This can be serious because it is like choking while asleep. At this point the brain will periodically instruct the snorer to wake up briefly, gasping for air and interrupting sleep. Most people afflicted with sleep apnea have no recollection of their episodes in the morning, though they may feel they did not have a good night’s restful sleep. Some individuals may have up to hundreds of these episodes a night.
During an episode, the body’s oxygen levels drop significantly sending alarm bells in the brain to react. As a result, the heart may speed up, slow down or begin an erratic beat causing your blood pressure to rise. This strains your cardiovascular system and your body as a whole.
Who is at Risk?
Individuals at higher risk, usually have, narrow airways, unusually relaxed throat muscles, are obese, a larger tongue or extra fatty tissue in the throat can also obstruct the airway. One in five adults has mild snoring and one in fifteen adults have at least moderate sleep apnea. Kids are also affected by this disorder, and one to three perfect or suffers are children. In the case or children, sleep apnea is more often related to enlarged tonsils or adenoids and surgery will likely clear up the problem completely.
In adults and older people, being overweight (obesity), having asthma or being congested because of allergies can increase the chances of suffering from snoring. And in addition to all the other health problems caused by smoking and second-hand smoke, it can also increase the risk of snoring and sleep apnea disorder by up to 40 percent. As smoke is inhaled into the upper airway of the throat, it irritates the passageways causing swelling; this seriously constricts the breathing passage during sleep.
Noreen Kassem - Noreen Kassem is a hospital doctor based in London, UK. She has extensive experience in clinical research and an undergraduate honors ...
