The Dangers Of Sleep Apnea

By Author: L.Steven Sanders
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We often think of loud snoring as we think of flatulence and burping: it is something that only affects individuals around us. In some instances, this is correct. But when loud snoring may be the consequence of sleep apnea, it signifies more than an irritation to our night time partner; this indicates a menace to our overall health. Sleep apnea is really a chronic disorder that is understood to be occurring when a person has one or more breathing pauses or shallow breaths as they sleep.

The inhaling and exhaling breaks is often as short as a few seconds or even as long as a couple of minutes. The apnea usually disrupts a person's rest in between three and 5 times every week using the breathing interruptions happening in between Five and 30 or even more occasions each hour.

Sleep apnea has a couple of classifications: obstructive and central. Obstructive apnea is the more prevalent of the two and is a result of a breathing passage that collapses or becomes blocked during sleep, resulting in breathing pauses or shallow breathing. When the sufferer breathes, the air that pushes past the blockage often causes loud ...
... snoring. Even though it occurs more often in those who are overweight, obstructive apneas can happen in anyone. Central apnea commonly occurs with obstructive apnea but can additionally happen alone, whereby snoring is seldom present. Central apnea occurs when the area of the brain that controls breathing does not send the correct signals to the breathing muscles.

Being obese is easily the most frequently mentioned reason for obstructive apnea. The correlation between obesity and obstructive apnea is a result of soft fat tissue thickening the walls of the windpipe, causing it to narrow and making it more difficult to maintain open. But there are more physiological conditions that are likely to cause obstructive apnea as well. One such condition happens when an individual's tongue and tonsils are large when compared with their windpipe opening. Once the person lies right down to sleep, the drifting from the tongue and tonsils for the back of the mouth may cause a partially or totally blocked windpipe opening. Obstructive apnea can also result once the shape of an individual's head and neck naturally make for a smaller airway in the mouth and throat area.

Both obstructive and central apnea can make heart attack, hypertension, heart failure, hypertension, cerebrovascular accident and diabetes. However they may also comprise the immune system by developing a loss of adaptive immune responses, making it less efficient at fighting off infection. With apnea, as with every sleep problems, the immune system weakens due to insufficient sleep, potentially leading to an increased risk for from cancer to the common flu.

Snoring is typically something which we discover embarrassing in ourselves and annoying in others, however it can also be a symptom of a potentially deadly sleep problem. Should you consistently snore and wake up feeling tired or even if you simply waking up feeling tired with an ongoing basis, make contact with an AMA accredited sleep clinic and resolve your sleeping issue to improve your present and long-term health.

While conducting research for this article, I learned about common sleep problems and sleep clinic specialists at www.FusionSleep.com.