Snoring, Suffocating Sleep Apnea

What it is, what it looks like, and why you should be concerned.

Sleep apnea is a tricky condition that affects millions. Unfortunately, many of them aren't even aware that they're living with the condition. Though it may seem nothing more than a mild nuisance, untreated sleep apnea can lead to a variety of annoying, dangerous, and even deadly consequences.

Do you know enough about sleep apnea to stay out of its grasp? You will soon.

What It Is

Each night, sleep apnea robs millions from getting good sleep. It does it by causing the individual to take shallow breaths or to experience breathing pauses during sleep. These breathing pauses can occur as many as 30 times an hour, lasting anywhere from two or three seconds to two or three minutes. When breathing is resumed, it is usually accompanied by a choking sound or a loud snort.

Sleep apnea is caused by a blockage in the airways, and is more likely to occur in men, individuals with small airways, and smokers. These blockages can be caused by the aging process, having a large tongue or tonsils, or being overweight.

What It Looks Like

Usually, you won't know if you suffer from sleep apnea. But the person who sleeps with you will. Telltale signs of sleep apnea include snoring, sudden gasps for breath, and pauses in breathing during sleep.

Don't share your bed with anyone? Other symptoms of sleep apnea include having to use the restroom in the middle of the night, suffering morning headaches, having a dry throat after waking up, experiencing memory or concentration problems, and feeling depressed or irritable.

Why You Should Be Concerned

If sleep apnea goes undiagnosed and untreated, it can lead to a number of complications. The most frightening is the potential for death. As sleep apnea causes you to stop breathing, it also slows down your heart. When you begin breathing again, your heart is jolted back into beating. Of course, it can also lead to death if your breathing pauses last too long.

In addition to the risk of death, sleep apnea causes you to sleep poorly, which puts you in a bad mood, causes you to feel tired, and makes it difficult to focus throughout the day. Your sleep apnea also puts in you at increased risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), and obesity.

Finding the Fix

Frightening as sleep apnea is, there are solutions available to help you breathe better while you sleep. Proper diagnosis of sleep apnea requires a number of tests, including a sleep study. During the study, you will be connected to a number of small electrodes that allow a sleep specialist to monitor your breathing, heart rate, and other vital signs as you sleep.

Once a diagnosis is made, you may find relief with a few lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, sleeping on your side, stopping smoking, and avoiding alcohol. When these steps aren't enough, a mouthpiece may be prescribed to help hold your airway open through the night. Or your physician may recommend the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.

The CPAP requires you to wear a mask at night. While you sleep, the mask blows air through your throat, keeping your airway open all night long, preventing you from suffering short and long pauses in your breathing. While the idea of wearing a mask as you sleep may seem obtrusive, many people who use a CPAP sleep and feel better than they have in years. As a final option, your physician may recommend surgical removal of excess tissue inside your nose or throat that causes your airway to close off.