Sleep Apnea: A Sleeping Disorder

In the middle of every night, do you suddenly wake up choking and gasping for air? It can not be due to a nightmare every night. You definitely need to look into the matter as you might be suffering from a sleep disorder known as Sleep Apnea.

In the night, does your snoring often make your partner wake up? And in the mornings, are headaches and a dry mouth regular occurrences? As soon as you experience these symptoms, its time to see a doctor, you may be suffering from Sleep Apnea!

Sleep Apnea is a type of sleeping disorder. The word “apnea” is a Greek word, it’s meaning, “want of breath”. Sleep Apnea is a disorder that causes disruption of breathing during sleep. Your breathing either becomes slow or stops completely during sleep. The frequency of disruption can range up to 20 times in an hour. The duration of disruption can last up to 20 seconds, bringing you close to death.

Sleep Apnea devastates your sleeping routine. It also affects your body. There are three categories of sleep apnea. All three are equally lethal.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a widely prevalent type of sleep apnea. It’s caused when your airway gets obstructed due to relaxation of the muscles of the soft palate around the base of tongue. When the airway gets obstructed, it lowers the level of oxygen in the blood and leads to a condition known as hypoxia. It also elevates the blood pressure and increases stress on your heart. These conditions prevent the patient from entering into sound sleep. This makes a person suffer from lack of quality sleep. A person suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea snores in the night and wakes up choking several times and tries desperately to sleep again.

Central Sleep Apnea
Central Sleep Apnea is not common. It is marked by a brain signal flaw. In Central Sleep Apnea, the brain’s signals instructing the body to breathe get flawed. As a result of this delayed signal to breathe, throat breathing, abdominal breathing and oral breathing cease simultaneously. Though the duration of interruption lasts a few seconds, it lowers the oxygen supply to blood and tissues significantly. A person suffering from central sleep apnea experiences high blood pressure, irregular heart beat and even heart stroke.

Mixed Sleep Apnea
Mixed Sleep Apnea is a condition characterized by a person experiencing the combination of symptoms of the two Sleep Apnea conditions— Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Central Sleep Apnea.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is highly prevalent and common in people suffering from Sleep Apnea disorder. Let’s look deep into the symptoms, causes and treatments required for Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Causes
There can be several causes that lead to the obstruction of your airway passage during sleep, leading to Obstructive Sleep Apnea. One of the major reasons is that your throat muscles and tongue relax and shrink excessively than normal.

If you are overweight, the soft tissue in your throat can become stiff and enlarged and causes obstruction in the airway passage. The other reasons could be increased size of your adenoids and tonsils, which further contribute in the disruption of flow of air.

Symptoms
The common symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea are choking and gasping for air several times in the night. Snoring loudly is also among a number of symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. If you suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea, you would experience sleepiness during the daytime as well. You would not be able to concentrate and would suffer from dry throat and headache in the mornings. Among other symptoms are rapid weight gain, lethargy, high blood pressure, and lack of concentration and even depression.

Treatments
There are many treatments available for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The common ones are losing weight, avoiding alcohol consumption during the evening and sleeping on your side. Medical treatments include Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and Oxygen Administration. Surgeries are also performed and tracheostomy is a surgery used in treatment of severe Sleep Apnea conditions.

If you feel you are displaying symptoms of sleep apnea you should visit your doctor immediately for formal diagnosis.

Having Trouble Sleeping? Read These Insomnia Tips

If you are busy every day, it is imperative you sleep well every night. However, it may be hard for you to get through the day if you struggle with insomnia. Read on to find out more about this disorder.

If you have a problem sleeping, you may want to visit a doctor if the problem is chronic. Migraines, restless leg syndrome and clogged airways might stop you from sleeping well. You will get a better sleep if you treat these conditions.

If insomnia has been keeping you up lately, add more exercise to your day. Experts all say that exercising can help your metabolism, and that allows hormones to be regulated which leads to sleep. Insomnia is often related to hormone levels, so getting exercise helps your body sleep at night.

Make sure you're keeping regular sleeping hours if you deal with insomnia. Your body's internal clock will adjust and make you sleepy at around the same time. The ability to tune in to your internal clock allows you to set bedtime hours that coincide with the onset of sleepiness.

Having a bedtime routine is important. Your body may sense a pattern in your current schedule and sticking to it. If you sleep randomly, your body will be confused.

If you have suffered from insomnia for a while, you may want to see your doctor. Insomnia is usually fleeting, but it can be a medical condition. Talk to your doctor to get a full check up.

Be sure the bedroom is noise-free and dark. Even LED lights on your clock can be problematic. If you can get rid of a noise, do it. If there is noise that is beyond your control, get yourself some earplugs.

It's tough to sleep when you're not tired. If your job is sedentary, take a lot of breaks where you get in physical movement. The more exercise that you can fit in, the sleepier you will feel at bedtime.

Check with your local physician before you take any over the counter sleeping aids. This is particularly true for anything you plan long-term use of. You may figure out that it's safe from time to time, but after a while it can have bad effects.

You don't want to eat too much before bed, but you also don't want to be hungry. Crackers, fruit, or other carbohydrates can help with sleep. The serotonin that is released by these foods will induce a more relaxed state.

When you are having issues, keep a diary of your sleeping habits to narrow down where the issue lies. Write down what you eat and what activities you do before bedtime. Study it along with how much sleep you're getting. Once you know what will help you get sleep, you can do it.

Avoid worrying when you are trying to go to sleep. A great idea for handling insomnia is to set a certain time to worry, preferably earlier in the day. Many people toss a lot in bed as they relive the stresses of the day. Why don't you think about those things at times other than bedtime? That way, you won't feel pressure to solve problems when you should be off to sleep.

Avoid any activities that stimulate you too much before going to bed. Watching TV, video game playing and arguments will all stimulate your brain. When you stimulate your mind, you won't be able to fall asleep properly. Opt for things that will relax you and prepare you for sleep.

Insomnia isn't easy to deal with. But, you can be sure that things change so you can sleep well again by using the above advice. A great night's sleep is something that everyone deserves to achieve.