Sound Sleep Guide

Posts Tagged ‘Sleep Apnea’

If you feel tired during the day even after a regular night’s sleep and snore very loudly during sleep cycles, then you could be suffering from sleep apnia. Another sign that you could have some form of sleep disorder is when you have been observed to stop breathing several times for certain periods of time during sleep. So how to sleep better?

Sleep aids include sleep medication and sleep devices and even surgeries. Apart from these, changing personal habits could help in in curing sleep apnia.

Nicotine is an addictive substance that should be avoided as it has no benefits for your body. Drop the smoking habit and while you’re at it, avoid alcohol and medicines that cause drowsiness because these substances interrupt your sleep cycles by preventing your airways from staying open during sleep.

If you are overweight, go on a sensible diet and exercise regime that not only helps keep your body in shape and increase self confidence, your health improves and reduces symptoms of sleep apnia. By sleeping on your side, you can keep your airway open during sleep cycles.

Specially designed masks that use air pressure to force airways to stay open during sleep are recommended by some doctors. Among other devices available are CPAP machines that prevent your tongue from falling to the back of your throat whch can block the breathing passage. Misalign teeth and saliva build up are some uncomfortable side effects from using these devices. Also, headaches, dry nose and dry mouth may be experienced by users of anti-snoring devices.

You can also consider undergoing surgery to help with your sleep apena disorder. Consult your doctor who will be able to provide you with more information. Excess flesh from the uvula is removed from the back of the throat while the soft palate and pharynx are made tighter. There are also options for nasal surgeries that help with sleep cycles and improve the sleep apnia condition.

Despite the fact that we have known for a long time that children who suffer from sleep apnea commonly get relatively low scores on IQ tests (normally scoring an average of 85 as opposed to a score of 101 for children who are not suffering from sleep apnea) one thing which has not been known until recently is that this arises out of chemical changes within the brain. As a result an otherwise bright child may well produce a second-rate performance as a result of nothing more than a sleeping problem that, in almost all cases, can be treated quite simply.

In a recent study carried out in Baltimore, 31 kids aged between 6 and 16 (19 of whom were suffering from severe sleep apnea) were examined with a special form or MRI and it was discovered that those children suffering from sleep apnea displayed significant changes in the right frontal cortex and hippocampus which are areas of the brain which are associated with learning and higher mental function.

This study also discovered that these kids were suffering from levels of three brain chemicals which were indicative of brain damage. This change to the chemistry of the brain resulting from sleep apnea may or may not be permanent and, at this point, further studies will be necessary to see if this effect can be reversed.

Even if reversal is possible however and the brain chemistry and cognitive function can be normalized, kids with sleep apnea will suffer learning problems as long as they have untreated sleep apnea and will certainly not be able to rewind time and regain this period of learning.

Parents should of course already be looking out for the signs of sleep apnea in their kids but this study clearly indicates that an early diagnosis and treatment of this sleep problem may have a substantial affect on a child’s success in life.

The signs of sleep apnea include frequent pauses in breathing during sleep which often result in an arousal from sleep and to tossing and turning in bed. Children may also display labored or loud breathing, snoring, gasping, coughing and, sometimes, bedwetting at an age when should generally have passed.

Parents might also notice that a child is sleeping in a strange position, perhaps with their bottom pointing up into the air and their head tilted back in an unconscious effort to keep their airway clear.

In very many cases child sleep apnea can be treated by removing the tonsils and adenoids, or excess tissue from the nose or the back of the throat. In addition, a continuous positive airways pressure machine (or pediatric CPAP) may also be employed to give the child a flow of air delivered through a mask worn while sleeping to keep the airway open.

In itself sleep apnea is debilitating for any child and the effect of night after night of inadequate sleep are going to take their toll on your child. But, when you combine this with an impairment of your child’s IQ, it becomes essential that you act at the earliest possible opportunity to get the condition diagnosed and treated.

Sleep apnea symptoms are most commonly observed in men who are over forty and also overweight although they can appear at any age in both women and men and are being seen increasingly in children.

The clearest symptom of sleep apnea (which is only one of several common sleep disorders) is snoring which is difficult to spot yourself and often needs to be pointed out to you by a sleeping partner. However, there are many reasons for snoring and the mere fact that you snore is not in itself an indication that you have sleep apnea. It is a fact however that most sleep apnea sufferers snore.

The second clear symptom of sleep apnea is undue tiredness during the day. Sleep apnea sufferers stop breathing frequently while sleeping and the body’s natural reaction is to wake you enough for you to start breathing again, but not sufficiently for you to be conscious of the fact that you are being awakened. This means that your sleep is constantly interrupted and therefore very light so that you do not enjoy the deep sleep that your body needs. As a consequence you grow more and more tired during the day.

If left untreated the effects of sleep apnea begin to appear and you will start to experience further symptoms which could include headaches (particularly in the morning), tetchiness and even depression. You may also notice that you are beginning to put on weight.

Yet another not quite so obvious symptom of sleep apnea is an increase in blood pressure that can give rise to several cardiovascular difficulties. If you are one of the increasing number of people who are starting to monitor their own blood pressure regularly at home then you should pick this up fairly easily but, otherwise, it will not be found unless and until you visit your doctor for a routine physical.

One further symptom is that of increasing difficulties with memory retention and learning difficulties. This is once again not something that it is easy for you to notice yourself but other people might well notice that you are not as fast on the uptake as you once were.

Finally, some sleep apnea sufferers will notice a decline in sexual function that can result in impotency.

Any of these symptoms in isolation can of course be indicative of just about any problem you can think of. When you begin to see these symptoms appearing alongside one another however there is a good chance that you are suffering from sleep apnea and you should consult your physician and consider having a sleep apnea test.