Tips About How To Find Out If You Actually Have Sleep Apnea

When we hear someone snoring, we quite often say that they are "sawing logs", meaning that they're sleeping rather soundly. But while snoring is definitely an indication that somebody is asleep, it may not imply that they're sleeping deeply, especially when the snoring results from sleep apnea. One of the most common sleep problem worldwide, sleep apnea occurs whenever a person temporarily stops breathing or takes shallow breaths one or more times as they sleep. The breathing stops is usually as brief as a few seconds or even as long as a couple of minutes, and the condition typically disturbs an individual's sleep between 3 and five times every week, with the breathing interruptions generally occurring between 5 and 30 or more times each hour.

Just because a person snores does not mean that they have sleep apnea. However, whenever a person snores several nights a week and awakens feeling tired the next day, getting tested for the condition is a good idea. Unlike most medical conditions, apnea can not be detected by blood test or urinalysis. Instead, your physician usually begins by observing your medical and genealogy, asking about apnea diagnoses inside your family and quizzing you on your sleeping and waking behavior. To get the most comprehensive info, your personal doctor may ask that you simply keep a sleep diary or claim that you ask your bed partner whether they've heard you snore, cease breathing or gasp for air as you slept.

After the medical and family history comes a physical exam to check out your nose, mouth and throat for natural airway obstructions. For instance, enlarged tonsils can block or partially occlude the windpipe when the head is in the sleeping position. If the physical exam fails to reveal a cause of apnea, a sleep study is usually recommended. During a sleep study, an individual usually stays overnight in a sleep lab to ensure that physicians can observe the patient's breathing while they sleep. While sleeping, the individual receives a polysomnogram, which measures brain activity, breathing and heartbeat, blood oxygen levels, air movement through the lungs, eye movement along with other motor activity. The polysomnogram is carried out by placing small sensors on the head, chest, limbs, face and finger.

Discovering if you have sleep apnea is actually as easy as going for a polysomnogram. Since it observes your vital signs and sleep behavior, its diagnosis is always accurate. But coming to the procedure begins with being sincere about your sleep quality and how it's impacting your life. Thinking that sleep issues do not represent a serious health threat; many people cope with sleep issues for a long time before confiding with their physician. But now that you know the seriousness of sleep problems, contacting your physician or an independent sleep clinic should be your first priority if you've been snoring and are experiencing daytime fatigue on an on-going basis. If you've gotten accustomed to experiencing low energy form insufficient sleep, you may have forgotten the way it feels to be mentally and physically vital at home and at work. By resolving your sleep issue, you'll renew your vitality and prevent yourself from possibly experiencing serious health problems later on.

While conducting research for this article, I learned about risks of sleep apnea and sleep apnea symptoms at www.FusionSleep.com.