Sleep Apnea

A Sneak-Peek Into This Disorder

Getting enough sleep is extremely important when you are having a busy schedule. However, sleeping too much can also be a disturbing problem. This can lead to a serious disorder that is commonly known as sleep apnea. This is a sleep disorder where the affected person will face breathing issues. If you snore loudly and if you feel tired even after a good night’s sleep, you might have sleep apnea. This article will give you a complete overview of this disorder including its symptoms, effects, causes, and types.

Types of sleep apnea

Basically, there are three types of sleep apnea. One of them includes an obstructive sleep apnea which occurs when the throat muscle relaxes. Another type is the central sleep apnea which affects your brain when the right signals are not sent to the muscles that are supposed to control your breathing. Lastly, complex sleep apnea syndrome affects people who have both obstructive and central sleep apnea.

Major signs and symptoms

Mostly, the signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apnea overlap and are difficult to the detect the type until the tests are not conducted. The most common symptoms include loud snoring, gasping of air in the middle of the night, waking up with a dry mouth, episodes in which you stop breathing while sleeping, morning headache, difficulty in paying attention while awake, insomnia, and feeling irritated. It is not necessary that the affected person would have all these signs. The signs and symptoms depend on the adversity of the disorder.

Causes of this disorder

People are affected by obstructive sleep apnea when the muscles in the back of your throat relax. When the muscles relax, your breath passage will get narrowed. This lowers your oxygen intake and lowers in the bloodstream as well. Once your brain senses the inability to breathe, it sends signals to the muscles that lead to intense sweating, snorting, and choking, especially when you are asleep.

What are its risk factors?

Sleep apnea is a disorder that can affect anyone including children. However, certain factors can increase the chances of getting affected by this disorder. Some of them include:

• Gaining excessive weight – overweight and obesity can be major factors that could lead to the rise of this disorder. This is because fat deposited in the upper part of your body can lead to difficulty in breathing.
• Neck circumference – People who have thicker necks generally have narrow airways. Hence, this can block air in your nasal passage, leading to sleep apnea.
• Being older – Sleep apnea is more significant in older adults as their airway passages tend to become narrower as they grow up.
• Use of alcohol, tranquilizers, or sedatives – People who are addicted to alcohol or who take sedatives often can be victims of sleep apnea. This is because these substances can damage your throat muscles which can perhaps worsen obstructive sleep apnea.

Get in touch with our clinic in Dubai as we have expert doctors and specialists who can help you get rid of this disorder.

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