Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder where a person temporarily stops breathing when asleep. It can occur 5 to 30 times in an hour and can last about a few seconds to minutes! Generally, this disorder happens when an individual slips into REM sleep while resting comfortably. There are times when an individual would go breathless for several seconds before waking up to take a breath.
There are three types of sleep apnea. These are central, obstructive and mixed. In central sleep apnea, there is a problem with the brain wherein the signal for respiratory effort is lacking or missing. Cases of central sleep apnea are rare and only accounts for 0.4% of all known cases. In Obstructive sleep apnea, there is a respiratory effort. The problem here is that there is an interruption of airflow or blockage in the pathway of air. It can be due to the weakening or collapsing of the muscles. This type of sleep apnea is common with about 84% of all known cases. Mixed sleep apnea accounts for 15% of all known cases. Here, there is a transition from central sleep apnea to obstructive.
Sometimes, sleep apnea is unnoticed even if it happens almost every night. There are many potential dangers of sleep apnea. Death from sleep apnea is possible. When an individual does not breath, the oxygen circulation is cut off. Without oxygen, body cells and organs would die. The brain and the heart would stop functioning which then leads to death. Other dangers of sleep apnea include heart attack and stroke.
When an individual experiences sleep apnea, he/she may be not that alert the next day. The decrease of alertness level can endanger the individual and the people around him. If that person is driving a car or operating some type of equipment, the danger of accident or error is high. Assistance and caution is needed to deal with this.
It is no doubt that those who experiences sleep apnea does not get enough sleep. Lack of sleep can result to weight gain, depression, high blood pressure and even memory loss. This is the reason why people with sleep apnea should have their condition checked by a medical professional to treat it.
One diagnostic tool that doctors used in the diagnosis of sleep apnea is called a polysomnogram. Here, the ECG and the oxygen saturation of the patient are monitored when sleeping. If there are five or more periods of apnea in an hour then sleep apnea is established.
BiPAP or CPAP machines are used to day to help deal with sleep apnea. This device allows the user to breathe comfortably wile sleeping.
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