Should You be Concerned About Sleep Apnea?

Have you heard of the condition called sleep apnea?  Has your doctor told you that you have this condition?  If so you need to address it immediately as it is very dangerous and in extreme cases can even be deadly.

The term “apnea” refers to a cessation of breathing.  Swimmers practice static apnea, meaning holding their breath for longer periods of time.  If you have sleep apnea, you stop breathing while you sleep.  Normally, this would last for only a few seconds, the body is able to protect itself from this type of problem with all of its safeguards.  If a person with sleep apnea stops breathing during the night the body will typically trigger reactions to get it breathing again.  But usually this involves actually waking up if even for a few seconds so breathing can be started.  The sufferer may not even realize that he or she is waking up during the night and so when they get up the next day and are still very tired, they don’t understand why that is.  In reality those who have extreme cases of sleep apnea may wake up several times during the night which means they never get the quality, deep sleep that they need and that’s important for their overall health.  So they go through their day feeling fatigued and rundown and not realizing why. This lack of quality sleep is related to many health problems, including daytime drowsiness, headaches, mood swings and irritability, and a buildup of toxins in the blood.  Because the body actually stops breathing, even momentarily, sleep apnea can also cause brain damage because the brain is not supposed to go without oxygen for any length of time, even those few moment.~Sleep apnea can also cause brain damage because the brain is not supposed to go without oxygen for any length of time, even those few moment,because the body actually stops breathing, even momentarily.  In some cases a patient has not been able to wake up in order to get themselves breathing again and this has resulted in death.

sleep apnea should not be dismissed as a minor irritation as the reality is that it can have quite serious consequences.  A doctor can perform a physical exam and give recommendations for treating your own case of sleep apnea and in some cases a CPAP machine might be recommended to keep oxygen coming into the body on a regular basis.  And of course if you’re suffering from this condition because of obesity, it’s time to face this problem and do what you must to lose weight.

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!