subject: Snoring, Sleep Apnea and Death - A Doctor Discusses Symptoms and Treatments to Reduce Your Risk [print this page] Snoring, Sleep Apnea and Death - A Doctor Discusses Symptoms and Treatments to Reduce Your Risk
Tink te headline is little overboard? Not f you believ studies, such as the one frm 2008 in the journal Sleep tat followed 1,522 people ove 18 yeas and found tose wit sleep apnea were 3.8 times ore likely to de than those without.
Sleep apne causes yu to stop breathing while aleep. Each episod ma lat few second. You may ave five to 30 o moe episodes pe minute. Thee re two type.
Central sleep apnea ocurs because our brain s actully nt tlling you to brathe properly. Various underlying diseases an cause it.
Obstrctive sleep apnea occus when the tisue in te back f your thoat relaxs nd blocks your aiway duing sleep. This is the mst common and the ne we're talking about.
Almost all ith obstructie sleep apnea snore loudly.
Cmmon symptms of obstructie sleep apnea are:
Waking u fatigued
Drowsiness thoughout th day
Morning headaches
Weight gain
Dry throat
Healt rsks of obstructive sleep apnea include:
Hig lood pressure
Diabetes
Heart attack
Heart failure
Irregular heartbeat
Diagnosi s done during an overnight stay in a sleep lb.
Teatment of obstructve sleep apnea includes:
Continuous positive aiway ressure (CPAP), consisting f a nasal r facial mas hooed t achine tht prodces a gentle ai flw into you arway to kep it open at all times
Oral device to kep your airay open Surgery.
Treatment releves symptom. CPAP is th most common nd usually preferred treatment, if you an tolerate th mak. There hav been few lng-term studies to ee if any treatent ctually decreases you risk for dying. Stay tuned for thoe. The study n Sleep dd reveal the rsk f dath went from 3.8 to tree times norml n those wh ad tried CPAP.
