Sleep Apnea
What do you look like when you sleep with sleep apnea? Click on the image to see video of how the tongue constricts air flow causing you to choke.
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a medical condition that causes your airway to narrow or close while you
sleep, causing the soft tissue vibration that results in snoring. The narrowing of the
airway also triggers an arousal response in your brain, as if someone were trying to
wake you every few minutes. This can occur hundreds of times per night, and it disrupts
your sleep pattern. While you might think that you have slept soundly, these disruptions
in your sleep cycle can have devastating effects. You awake unrefreshed, suffering
everything from morning headaches, difficulty concentrating and daytime sleepiness, to
fatigue, memory issues and emotional instability.
Sleep apnea is a serious condition. Often people with severe sleep apnea have no idea
how impaired they actually are during the day. It is a common cause of motor vehicle
accidents. Falling asleep at the wheel is not something you can prevent by rolling down
the window or listening to the radio. It increases your risk of a heart attack, stroke, high
blood pressure and early death. It can also impede your ability to lose weight.
There is no specific profile for those who suffer from sleep apnea. Although being
overweight may be a contributing factor, approximately 30% of individuals with sleep apnea are
not overweight. In fact, many who suffer from sleep apnea are not even
aware of their problem. And the condition only gets worse as you age.
The good news is that you don’t have to live with this life-threatening condition. Patients
describe normalizing the sleep pattern as a life changing event. Sleep apnea is a
reversible disorder that should never be allowed to steal your energy away from you.
Contact us today to find out how to treat this all too common disorder.