When I Live Alone, Is Sleep Apnea Really a Problem?

When we live alone there are actually stuff that we feel much more comfortable executing because they don't trouble anybody, for example burping, passing gas and even heavy snoring. However snoring, unlike the other two, may represent a problem even for individuals who live on their own, particularly if the snoring is a result of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a persistent medical problem that occurs when a person stops breathing or takes shallow breaths a number of instances as they sleep. The stopages in breathing may be as brief as a few seconds or even as long as minutes, with the breathing interruptions usually taking place between 5 and 30 plus instances each hour. The condition commonly disturbs an individual's sleep between three and five times every week.

Just because a particular person snores does not mean that they have apnea, but chronic snorers are recommended to contact their physician or perhaps a sleep specialist to get tested for the condition.

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of apnea. It occurs when an airway is partially or totally blocked, causing shallow breaths or a cessation in breathing. Then, as the body's dependence on oxygen strengthens the autonomic breathing response, air pushes beyond the obstruction, producing an unusually loud snoring sound and causing the person to maneuver from deep sleep to light sleep. Given the fact that the breathing disturbances usually occur multiple times per hour at night time, the individual fails to achieve prolonged deep sleep, leaving them feeling tired the following day.

Many apnea suffers seek treatment only after their bed partners have commented at length on the snoring. But if you reside alone, that isn't going to happen. Therefore, knowing that you simply snore and you wake up feeling tired even after you are feeling that you simply slept the night time through, it makes sense to consult with a sleep medicine center. Left unchecked, apnea can put an individual at risk for high blood pressure levels, heart failure, stroke, hypertension, heart attack, irregular heartbeats, obesity and other serious health conditions. And like several long-term sleep issues, apnea weakens a person's immune system. Inadequate sleep decreases the effectiveness of immune cells, compromising their ability to fight off infections.

There are many effective treatments for obstructive apnea, including positive airway pressure therapy, which consists of a nasal or facial mask that maintains an open upper airway; medical therapies comprising various medications; oral appliance therapy, which supplies a mouth device that trains the low jaw to hold a position that will help resolve apnea; positioning and weight reduction therapies that resolve apnea by weight reduction or head positioning during sleep; and occasionally surgical therapy.

Most of the therapies require some dedication on the part of the patient, but patient testimonials reveal a chance to acclimate to the therapies and, ultimately, towards the therapies' great success. While the snoring facet of sleep apnea may not appear to be much of a problem if you reside alone, resolving your apnea may prevent you from possibly experiencing a group of health related problems in the future.

Whenever we reside alone, we might think that it isn't a problem if we snore. Yet, while our snoring may not wake anyone, maybe it's a sign of obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is one of the most typical sleep problems. Left unchecked, it poses serious dangers to our all around health.

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