Sleep apnea is considered a common sleep disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. For some sleep apnea is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition.

Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes and often occur 5 to 30 times during an hour.  Breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound. Often times the breathing pauses are accompanied by snoring between apnea episodes although not everyone who snores has this condition.  The frequent interruptions of deep, restorative sleep often lead to early morning headaches and excessive daytime sleepiness.

Sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed. Doctors can’t detect the condition during routine office visits and there are no blood tests for the condition. Many people who have it have no idea.

The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea where the airway has collapsed or is block during sleep. When you try to breathe the air that squeezes past the blockage sounds like snoring.

Obstructive sleep apnea is more common in men and people who are overweight. Symptoms include:

• Snoring or gasping during sleep;
• Sleepiness during the day
• Morning headaches
• Not being able to concentrate
• Memory or learning problems
• Urination at night
• A dry throat.

A sleep study is the more accurate test for diagnosing sleep apnea. It records what happens with your breathing while you sleep.  A polysomnogram or PSG are often done at sleep centers or sleep labs. The test records:

• Brain activity
• Eye movement and other muscle activity
• Breathing, heart rate and blood pressure
• How much air moves in and out of your lungs while you’re sleeping?
• The amount of oxygen in you blood.

It is a painless procedure. You go to sleep wearing sensors on your scalp, face, chest, limbs and finger. A sleep specialist reviews the results. Your doctor may recommend a home-based portable monitor.

Treatment includes lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, breathing devices and surgery. Medicine are not typically used. The goals of treating sleep apnea are to restore regular breathing during sleep and to relieve symptoms such as snoring and sleepiness during the day.

Lifestyle changes are commended for those with mild sleep apnea include:

• Avoiding alcohol and medicines that make you sleepy.
• Losing weight if you’re obese.
• Sleep on your side instead of your back to keep your throat open.
• Use nasal spray at night to keep you nasal pass
• Quit smoking.

Because of the serious disturbances in their normal sleep patterns, people with sleep apnea often feel very sleepy  during the day. The consequences of sleep apnea range from annoying to life-threatening. They include depression, irritability, sexual dysfunction, learning and memory problems, and falling asleep at work or while driving.

If you suspect you have symptoms see your physician and at least discuss your issues.

To your success at a good night’s sleep.
Ruthan

Resources
American Academy of Sleep Medicine
NIH Center on Sleep Disorders Research

Ruthan Brodsky
Content Creator
Business Writer
Upside of Aging

How much you sleep and how much you don’t sleep are now associated with a higher risk of heart attacks and death from all causes. That was the conclusion of a study in the February 2010 issue of the journal SLEEP.

Historically, that is before electric lights and computers and smart phones, most Americans slept more than 9 hours a night. That’s an hour or two more than the recommended 7 or 8 hours that experts recommend. Studies show that most Americans get less than 7 hours a night. That number especially decreases as we get older.

First and foremost, sleep is necessary and an integral state that permits mental and physical restoration. Although the body rests and restores its energy levels, sleep is nevertheless an active state that affects our physical and mental well-being. Adequate sleep, like diet and exercise, is critical to good health. Insufficient restful sleep may result in mental and physical health problems.

Think about it: governments use sleep deprivation techniques as a form of torture.

There are dozens of studies reported each year about sleep: how much is enough? Does it lead to higher risks of diabetes? Heart disease? Loss of memory?  Then there are those studies, much fewer in number, which demonstrate the amount of sleep we get and need is based on the individual – some need more, some need less.

My opinion: those of us who don’t get enough sleep probably don’t get enough sleep but we may not need the amount of sleep recommended across the board.

In this post I will describe some of the mental and physical tolls of inadequate sleep as reported by the research. For example, without adequate sleep:

• Your mental and physical performance can be impaired as much as 2 alcoholic drinks.
• Your ability to learn, problem-solve, to speak and write all decline.
• Your reaction time declines.
• Your more likely to become tense and moody.
• Your immune system may be weakened.
• You are at increase risk of developing insulin resistance, a condition which predisposes diabetes;
• You are more likely to gain weight;
• You are more likely to lose muscle mass.

In the study reported in the SLEEP journal, based on following 3,000 adults in China over 16 years, the researchers concluded that the cues from this study showed that we may need to readjust our values and slow down our lifestyles if we want good health as we age.

I’m writing this post because one my readers asked should he be worked because he snores at night. Snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea in which the throat temporarily closes which causes your breathing to stop. That not only disturbs sleep but also increases your risk of hypertension, heart attack and stroke.

If you snore heavily and loudly enough to disturb you or you’re always feeling fatigued, talk to your physician so you can be checked for sleep apnea at an accredited sleep center.

More on sleep apnea on my next post. If you have any questions in the mean time send them via the comment box so I can answer them in my next posts.

To your successful sleep.

Ruthan

Resources
National Institutes of Health National Center on Sleep Disorders Research
American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Ruthan Brodsky
Business Writer
Copywriter & Content Creator
Upside of Aging

Americans are sleeping less than ever before according to the Sleep in America Poll. Interestingly, almost half are willingly to reduce the amount of their sleep so they can do other activities which are considered more important.

The problem is that as you get older deep sleep or slow wave sleep decreases around 2 percent a decade from early adulthood to about age 60. People aged 60 and older generally show decreases in sleep efficiency or the actual sleep period divided by the time in bed.  They also show an advancement of their circadian rhythms which means they tend to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. That is not to say that changes in the environment and behavior also contribute to changes in circadian patterns. And, of course, there are always people who are exceptions to the rule.

Fortunately people who voluntarily lose sleep can often resolve their lack of sleep without treatment. That does not include, however, about 60 million Americans who are suffering from sleep related problems or clinical sleep disorders. While 75 percent of Americans say they have at least one symptom of a sleep problem a few nights per week, the same survey indicates that 76 percent of Americans do not believe they have a sleep problem and less than half report any problem to their doctor.

I have no idea what category you may be in but I do know that untreated sleep disorders are not good for your health. For instance if you have sleep apnea, a broadly labeled sleep disorder breathing, it is likely you have an obstructive sleep apnea. Many who suffer from sleep apnea do not get an examination because the nature of the diagnosis and treatment is so cumbersome so the condition is undiagnosed. The danger is this could lead to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes or having an accident caused by excessive daytime sleepiness.

The good news is that more research on other, less obstructive techniques for diagnosis and treatment are in the works.

Do any of these signs describe you? If so then you are not getting enough sleep.
1.    You depend on the alarm clock to wake you up.
2.    You and the coffee are inseparable.
3.    You are cranky and irritable especially in the afternoon.
4.    You make more mistakes because you cannot concentrate when you are tired.

Do you have cues that tell you when you’re not getting enough sleep? Share them with our readers and we’ll build a list to share with all.

To your successful healthy aging.

Ruthan