Risk Factors And Causes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

May 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It is during sleep that people are supposedly having the most restorative and restful time in the day. This is not true, however, with people with obstructive sleep apnea. Their apneic events, which happen when there are breath pauses, wake them hundreds of times a night and therefore disturb what should be a continuous, good night’s sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs for a number of reasons. However, not all people are aware of them, which makes it hard for the potential patients to seek immediate medical attention.

Treatment is necessary, but it starts by knowing the risk factors and causes of obstructive sleep apnea.

Causes
1. Problems in the airway. Obstructive sleep apnea results from an obstruction in the airway, which is usually caused by certain problems in the airway components. These include the upper and lower jaws, tonsils, soft palate, tongue, and throat muscles.

Some sleep apnea cases involve over-relaxed throat muscles and tongue. When a person sleeps, his muscles normally relax, but when his throat muscles and tongue relax more than normal, it results in narrowing of the airway and causes apneic events.

Enlarged and collapsed soft palate and tonsils also cause obstructive sleep apnea.

2. Structural abnormalities. Anatomical abnormalities contribute to a person’s tendency to experiencing obstructive sleep apnea. For instance, the bone structure and shape of the head and neck may affect the size of the airway. A thicker neck may mean narrower airway. Moreover, large tongue and tonsils may also have an effect on the air passage. There are also structural abnormalities in the jaw, nose, and mouth that appear in people with craniofacial syndromes, making them more prone to obstructive sleep apnea. About 50% of those with Down Syndrome, for example, experience obstructive sleep apnea largely due to decreased muscle tone, comparatively large tongue, and narrower nasopharynx.

3. Obesity. Studies show that obesity has a part to play in the development of obstructive sleep apnea. Fatty cells tend to amass and clog the throat tissue, thereby causing narrowing of the airway. Obese people with sleep apnea are also shown to have more pressure on the airway, which results in more obstruction.

Risk Factors
1. Being Male. Obstructive sleep apnea is more likely to occur among men, although women are predisposed after menopause. Statistics show that one out of 50 middle-aged women has obstructive sleep apnea, compared to one out of 25 among middle-aged men.

2. Old age. Children and adolescents may have obstructive sleep apnea, although those over the age of 65 are twice or thrice more likely to experience it.

3. Use of alcohol, sedatives, and cigarette. Alcohol and sedatives make the muscles more relaxed. Smoking, on the other hand, is said to cause inflammation in the upper airway, thereby making smokers thrice more prone to obstructive sleep apnea.

4. Family history. Sleep apnea seems to run in the family. Therefore, those with family members suffering from obstructive sleep apnea should be more careful for being at a heightened risk.

5. Snoring. Though snoring indicates the presence of obstructive sleep apnea, chronic snoring, in some cases, is said to also cause apneic events. This is because frequent vibration due to snoring may cause the soft palate to stretch, thereby increasing its possibility to collapse. It doesn’t mean, however, that snoring automatically makes a person a candidate for obstructive sleep apnea. Snoring should not be regarded as a sole factor. Other risk factors and causes of obstructive sleep apnea should also be considered.
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Lifestyle Changes for Treatment of Sleep Apnea

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There are several treatment options for sleep apnea. If you fear undergoing surgical procedures and if you dislike using breathing devices and mouthpieces, there is one more option left. It is not intake of medicines since there is still no approved pill or injection for sleep apnea treatment. It would help a lot if you would try to change or improve your lifestyle. You may need to do several alterations or changes to your habits and daily activities so you could attain the relief and improvement you need.

First, try to change your sleeping position. If you always been used to sleeping on your back, this time, learn to sleep on your side. Most sleep apnea patients admit lying on the back when sleeping. This position could narrow airway passages due to impact of gravity. Try rolling over into your side and see the improvements not just in sleep apnea but also in loud snoring problems.

Second, try to avoid drinking alcoholic beverages not at least four hours before bedtime. As you know, alcohol could make your muscles more relaxed. This way, your throat and airway muscles could squeeze and narrow the air passage, which would lead to sleep apnea. Also avoid medicines (for your other ailments) that could induce sleep as they bring about the same effect as alcohol to the muscles. It would be better if you would approach your doctor about possible alternatives or strategies you could use so you could adjust your medicine intake, if it could not be helped.

Third, start losing excess weight if you are obese or overweight. You would notice that even the slightest weight loss could bring about great heaps of improvements of symptoms. As you know, weight loss could reduce snoring, at times eliminating it completely. A research conducted in 200 has found that sleep apnea sufferers who lose weight by about 10% of total current weight could expect to experience up to 26% decrease in risks of sleep apnea development.

Fourth, start quitting smoking. Many smokers are arguing about the helpfulness of eliminating the habit for treatment of sleep apnea. If you have been into smoking, you cialis dosage would certainly deal harder to stop smoking. Specific studies have shown that smoking could worsen sleep apnea.

Start reducing your smoking habits now. You do not need to stop it suddenly. You could begin by subtracting a stick of cigarette each day to your average daily cigarette-stick intake.

Fifth, keep the nasal passages always open especially at night. You could use allergy medicines and nose sprays to do so. You could also try out nasal strips that are available over-the-counter. You need to make sure your nose and mouth are in good condition before you sleep. If you have runny and stiff nose, such strip products could also spell a great difference.

Last but not the least, sleep beside your bed partner. This way, you could always monitor how you are doing. Listen to their accounts. They may be complaining about your very loud sleep and their anxiety from thoughts that you are stopping breathing during your sleep.

You could have your partner wake you up whenever manifestations of sleep apnea are surfacing. Hugging your partner while sleeping could also be a good way of how you could adopt sleeping on side position.

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Key Points about Sleep Apnea

May 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sleep apnea is usually considered as chronic or ongoing. It is a condition that often leads to disrupted sleep and could happen in a person for about three or sometimes more nights every single week. The affected person often suddenly moves out of deep sleep and goes into a very light sleep as breathing pauses or becomes very shallow. It is also observed that when the person resumes normal breathing after a sleep apnea attack, he creates a loud choking sound or snort.

It could result to poor quality sleep, making the person tired and restless all day. The condition has been identified by experts as among the main causes of inevitable and excessive daytime sleepiness. Contrary to what others usually think, sleep apnea is not normal. It could be very risky. If you are diagnosed with the condition, it would be wise and best if you would resort to temporality giving up daytime driving and operating heavy machineries at work.

In many cases, the sleep disorder is undiagnosed. It is because doctors are not able to detect the problem during routine clinic visits. No form of blood, urine, or sale cialis stool test could point out presence of the problem. It is best if you would discover the condition on your own. You could ask your bed partner or roommates about the snore and noise you make during your sleeping hours. You could take it from there.

It is estimated that in the United States alone, over 12 million of the adult population could be experiencing obstructive sleep apnea. It is also noted that about half of such people have one common condition: they are overweight. Thus, many researchers and experts could not help their selves but associate or link sleep apnea with excessive weight problem or obesity. This makes the condition a risk factor for any person to develop or suffer from sleep apnea. In the same regard, it is estimated that the ratio of sufferers worldwide are greater.

Race could also be a factor in the occurrence of sleep apnea. Studies highlight that Pacific Islanders, African Americans, and Hispanics are more likely to have sleep apnea.

In the same line, it has been found that Caucasians are less likely to suffer from it. The sleeping disorder could also be hereditary. That means that if someone in your immediate family has a history of sleep apnea, chances are higher that you would also develop the problem.

There are several types of sleep apnea. The most common of such kinds is obstructive sleep apnea. It is noted that when the condition happens, the airway collapses or gets blocked during sleep. This blockage may lead to breathing pauses or shallow breathing. Loud snoring is produced when air squeezes past this blockage.

Obstructive type of sleep apnea is often manifested by overweight people, though experts warn that it could also likely affect anyone. Central sleep apnea is less common. This type is caused by slight malfunction of the brain, specifically the signals sent normally to muscles in the throat, mouth, or airway passages for breathing.

Available treatment could help improve overall health and quality if sleep. Basic options available to treat sleep apnea are mouthpieces, breathing devices, lifestyle adjustments, and surgical operations. You could always have the freedom to choose which treatment option to take based on your comfort, budget, and preference.

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Dealing with Sleep Apnea

May 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Whatever the type of sleep apnea is, it certainly could be serious eventually. There could be other problems or ailments caused by continuous suffering from this sleeping disorder. By getting an appropriate and effective treatment, you surely could also improve the overall quality of your life. Treatment could help improve your overall sleeping habit and relieve your daytime tiredness.

If you could curtail the problem, you could also prevent development or onset of heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other health concerns. There are many other ways to deal effectively with sleep apnea so it would not hamper your overall quality of life.

Be watchful about your overall health care needs. It would be appropriate if you would always set appointments to follow up your condition with your doctor. You need to make sure your treatment is truly working. You should advise your doctor immediately if you are having problems or discomfort in continuing the treatment. This is most especially true if you are not very comfortable using mouthpieces and breathing devices like continuous positive way pressure or CPAP. Such a device should constantly be adjusted to fit your size and specifications. You may also not be totally comfortable with it like most other people.

From now on, intend to control your overall weight. It has been noted that sleep apnea is more likely to appear in people with excessive weight or obesity. Some studies also suggest that losing even the slightest amount of weight could bring about significant improvement in snoring and sleep apnea problems. If you are still not overweight, strive harder not to gain weight to the level that is excessive. Remember that body weight could eliminate or worsen sleep apnea, so you better control it to your advantage. Try losing weight as an alternative way of treating sleep apnea.

Be honest to yourself and strive much harder to know more about possible effects of sleep apnea to your daily activities. The condition could prompt your body to release stress hormones during sleep, which could trigger your body to adopt the flight or fight response, and in the process make buy cialis online you worn out.

This is the reason why no matter how long you sleep, if you are suffering from sleep apnea, you would always feel deprived of quality and adequate sleep. Particularly be careful when driving or when operating special heavy machineries in your workplace if you are sleepy.

If you are set to undergo any form of surgical procedure (for other body conditions or ailments), do not fail to tell your surgeon that you are suffering from sleep apnea. This is to give them time and idea about how they could take several other additional steps that would make your airway passage keeping open even during surgery. You would be induced to sleep during operations, so expect several disruptions and abnormal breathing or heartbeat patterns, which might be inappropriately taken or read by the surgical team.

Most of the time, people are now aware that they have sleep apnea. Family members, bed partners, and roommates certainly could be of great help.

If you have a family member who shows signs and symptoms of the condition, immediately call his attention but in a calm and casual manner.

You should also start encouraging the person to quickly seek medical help. Emotional support is also very necessary.

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Coping With Obstructive Sleep Apnea

May 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes a person to stop breathing for brief periods during sleep. These breathing pauses are caused by an obstruction in the airway. Though a person may not remember it, sleep apnea results in frequent awakenings and therefore disruption of sleep.

While it is true that obstructive sleep apnea is a serious and sometimes fatal sleep disorder due to the many complications best price cialis that come with it, it shouldn’t be a cause of panic. There are ways to cope with it. If you are one of the millions of people with sleep apnea, here are some things you can do:

1. Use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) upon the prescription of your doctor. CPAP is used in providing air pressure to keep your airway open and therefore avoid sleep disturbances.

It also diminishes the possibility of snoring, so your bed partner can equally have a restful sleep. CPAP is a bit uncomfortable to use though, but you can make some adjustments to get use to it. Use nasal pillows, for instance.

Nasal pillows are fitted into the nostrils and eliminate pressure on the nose. You can also use skin moisturizer or other skin products for CPAP users to avoid skin irritation. To keep your jaw locked and the air in, use a chin strap. Don’t easily give up on CPAP; instead, ask your doctor for ways to make it more comfortable to use.

2. Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Obstructive sleep apnea is caused and aggravated by some habits or activities such as drinking and taking sedatives. Lessen your intake, if not totally get rid of them. Quit smoking as well. It will, of course, take some time. However, if you find it hard to kick the habits in the course of time, remind yourself that keeping a healthy lifestyle does not only allow you to sleep peacefully, it can also add years to your life.

3. Keep an open and constant communication with your doctor or specialist. This is so that he can monitor your improvements and can warn you of risks, if there is any. This also allows you to inform him of any problem that may arise. You must keep in mind that the success of treatment and management of obstructive sleep apnea lies partly in the doctor-patient communication.

4. Educate yourself. While you can certainly trust your doctor or specialist to inform you of everything you need to know about your condition, it is best that you research and study on your own. Find out more about the sleep disorder and the associated complications and risks, so you can learn how to live with it, be more tolerant to the treatments, and monitor your own improvements. The supplemental knowledge you obtain can also help you evaluate treatment options.

5. Find and join a support group. In the United States alone, 12 million are estimated to have sleep apnea. It would, therefore, not be too hard to find people who share what you feel and what you have to go through. Support groups not only provide you with moral and emotional encouragement, they can also impart substantial information about obstructive sleep apnea.

However, if you find it rather hard to look for one in your area, you can do your search online.

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