An Overview of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Nicky Pilkington
Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of sleep apnea, and is
caused by an obstruction within the airways as a person sleeps.
There may be many reasons why a person suffers from Obstructive Sleep
Apnea, and here are some of them:
- Narrow Airways: A person may have narrow airways by nature, which
although doesn't affect them by day, as the body relaxes during the
night, they tend to close up too much causing a person to wake up
fighting for breath.
- Inflammation of the airways: A persons airways may become inflamed
for many a reason. Smoking, for one, can cause the upper airways to
become inflamed, thus narrower. Infections and scar tissue can also
narrow the airways.
- Obesity: An obese person isn't simply obese on the outside, but also
the inside, and excessive fat in the throat tissues can cause a person
breathing problems, particularly during the relaxed sleep period.
When a person suffers from obstructive sleep apnea, what happens is
this: Due to the obstruction within the airways, a persons body will
continue trying to draw air into the lungs, but will struggle until the
brain, in a desperate attempt to re-open a persons airways, breaks a
person out of their deep sleep thus tensing up the airways as in the
conscious state to allow a person to draw breath. As a person drifts
back into deep sleep and the airways relax and obstruct once more, the
same thing happens. This may happen repeatedly throughout the night,
thus never allowing a person to enter deep sleep for long periods of
time.
The result is a person will wake up feeling drowsy and perhaps have a
headache from the lack of oxygen. Whilst a person may know the morning
they wake whether they have slept well or not according to how they
feel, they may be completely unaware they experienced sporadic
stoppages in breathing throughout the night, as it all happens in a
sleep-like state.
Not only does a person with obstructive sleep apnea have a much higher
risk of being involved in daytime accidents due to the inevitable
effects of tiredness, but other health issues can develop over the
longer term if this disorder isn't treated. Some of the other health
issues are:
-Heart failure: Because the lungs are working harder to surmount the
obstruction and draw breath, the heart also has to work harder. The
result is much stress is placed on the heart which after a long time
may result in the heart failing.
-Increased Risk of Strokes / Heart Attacks: As already mentioned, the
heart can become damaged which increases the susceptibility to strokes.
-Irregular Heart Beat
-Weakened Immune System: A person needs deep sleep to recharge their
system. Without good sleep, the whole body begins to deteriorate, and
this includes your immune system. A weaker immune system increases the
risk of contracting viral infections and other infections.
-Type 2 Diabetes: Sleep apnea can lead to the onset of Type 2 Diabetes,
where the body becomes resistant to insulin, this not allowing glucose
to enter parts of the body to be used as energy.
- High Blood Pressure
- Arterial Disease (Hypertension): Due to prolonged high blood
pressure, a person may develop arterial disease.
- Increased Carbon Dioxide in the Blood (Hypercapnia)
- Weight Gain
- Sexual Dysfunction
- Other Mental Problems: A person suffering from a lack of sleep is
going to feel bad both physically and emotionally, and this can lead to
depression, memory impairment, mood swings and more.
Detailed information about sleep apnea is available at
http://www.sleep-apnea.org.uk
See Also:
More Articles on Sleeping & Dreaming
Search to Find More Free Natural Health Information
Choose Natural Health Site Map
