Have you recently been told by a doctor that you’re suffering from a type of sleep apnea? Are you still a little confused about what it is and the possible long-term effects of the condition? If so, this brief article may help answer some of your more pressing questions. In this article we will give a brief definition of sleep apnea, including a description of the two most common types, the various causes of each type, available treatment strategies and the potentially harmful side effects of the condition if left untreated.

Sleep apnea is a very common sleep disorder affecting millions of people across the globe. The disorder is characterized by one or more pauses in breathing while you sleep, or even a pattern of shallow breathing that disrupts your normal sleep routine. While most of these pauses last only a few seconds to a few minutes, they will often occur 10-20 times during a typical sleep hour, and eventually be interrupted by a loud snort or choking sound signifying a return to regular breathing.

Sleep apnea, especially when severe, can be a very dangerous condition, but at the very least the condition will move you out of deep sleep and into shallow sleep when the pauses begin, which can in turn leave you feeling tired and restless the next morning.

Apnea during sleep can go on for years and remain undiagnosed, and since there are no specific blood tests or symptoms that show when awake associated with this condition, doctors will generally have an extremely difficult time detecting the condition.

There are two basic types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. The latter of these two, is much less common than the former, and occurs because the brain fails to send the proper signals to the breathing muscles during sleep – signals that tell you when it’s time to breathe. As a result, there will be periods of time when you simply neglect to breathe.

The second type of apnea, obstructive sleep apnea, is by far the most common form of the disorder. With this type of disorder, the airway either collapses or becomes obstructed during sleep, causing shallow, labored breathing and frequent pauses. This is usually characterized by loud snoring – a sound that occurs as the air tries to squeeze passed the obstructed airway.

Apnea during sleep can be caused by a number of factors. Obstructive sleep apnea, for example, is much more common in people who are overweight, while central sleep apnea presents more in people with certain medical conditions or those taking particular medications.

Long term effects of untreated apnea during sleep include:

* Hypertension
* Heart Attack
* Stroke
* Diabetes
* Heart Failure
* Irregular Heartbeats

There is no cure for this disorder, but the condition can be managed with the proper diet, lifestyle changes and special breathing apparatus that can keep your airway unobstructed during sleep. Only a doctor can diagnose apnea during sleep, so if you feel you may have some of the symptoms described above, it would be wise to make an appointment as soon as possible.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-is-sleep-apnea-common-symptoms-and-solutions-4200869.html

having a machine. I took a pulmonary test the doc says I have sleep apnea. Any cure outside of the breathing machine?

Hi,

Which are the sleep apnea symptoms?

Which are the best treatments for Sleep Apnea?

Thanks!

For those who lose Sleep Apnea due to being periodically shaken awake, and for those who’re around them and sleep with them, an actual cure for snoring would be a life-enhancing gift. While there may not be an outright cure for snoring, there’re some useful ideas and tools that can alleviate the issue. Many of the things that may be deemed “cures for snoring” are health related, such as maintaining a healthy body weight and cutting down on overly fatty foods. There are also devices that are placed into the snorer’s mouth that are designed to open up the air passage.

Snoring is due to air flowing through a nasal passage that’s narrowed. Therefore some natural curesfor snoring contain the avoidance of smoking, changing sleeping situations and losing weight. Although these do not apply to everyone, these changes all result in the nasal passage and airways being opened up. Weight loss will reduce the pressure on the airways due to excess fat. Changing sleep situations from one’s back to one’s side or stomach can alleviate the problem of the tongue falling back onto the throat which constricts airflow. Smoking clogs the throat, which narrows the air passageway.

Most cures for snoring involve maintaining a healthy lifestyle overall, as if you aren’t in shape and aren’t practicing a healthy exercise regimen, your body will react to the added weight by blocking the throat passage, when lying on your back at night, causing you to snore.

The suggested cures for snoring discussed here are relatively inexpensive and don’t need any surgical procedures. However snoring problems can exist that can need surgery to correct issues in the nose and throat.

All snorers are unique; therefore a cure for snoring will be unique to each individual. Those looking for a cure will need to evaluate their own personal medical situation and limitations and apply the cure that will work finest for them. No two people are alike, and no one cure for snoring is guaranteed to work for everyone, but with so many options available, the number of people losing Sleep Apnea over the issue has been reduced.

If you get yourself snoring, or your partner has been nudging you over and over about it, make sure to talk to your Doctor about what treatments may be right for you, so that you can obtain the finest possible cures for snoring that make sense for your problem.

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