When a person cannot breathe normally while he or she is sleeping then he or she is suffering from sleep apnea.. So the person is awake every time he or she has to breathe. It is a serious trouble that leads to further complications considering breathing.

He or she has to wake up several times throughout the night in order to gulp in fresh breath of air. Also the patient fails to remember this entire incident of having woken up to breathe. It is the person who rests next to the one suffering from sleep apnea who lets the person know about his or her condition.

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Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person stops breathing repeatedly while sleeping.  Sleep apnea can affect anyone at any age, including children.  Risk factors include being overweight, male gender, being over forty years of age, having a family history of sleep apnea, having a larger neck size, or having larger tonsils.  If left untreated sleep apnea could lead to hypertension, stroke, or heart problems such as a heart attack, heart failure, or irregular heart beat.  Sleep apnea can cause you to be less productive at work or school and increases your chances of having a car accident because of your sleep loss.  There are two types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. 

Before diagnosing sleep apnea you must understand what it is.  Sleep apnea occurs when someone has completely stopped breathing for 10 seconds or more while they are sleeping.  Sometimes these apnea episodes completely wake a person, other times they just bring someone to a shallow level of sleep from a deep level.  This interrupted sleep may not be noticed by the person with the sleep apnea, instead it may alert your bed partner.  There are two types of sleep apnea: central sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea.  Central sleep apnea occurs when the brain doesn’t send the signal to breathe to the breathing muscles.  This is more common in people with brain injuries or heart diseases.  Obstructive sleep apnea means the airway has actually been obstructed by your tongue going backwards or enlarged tonsils.  Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder.

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Snoring may seem like a mere annoyance to most people. But sometimes, snoring is a symptom of sleep apnea, a serious medical condition that affects over 20 million Americans and drastically reduces their quality of life. In extreme cases, it can lead to death.

The word “apnea” is derived from a Greek word that means “want of breath.” In order to be diagnosed with sleep apnea, one must experience stoppage of breathing for a period of at least ten seconds more than five times in one hour. All of this counteracts the healing, restorative effects that nourishing deep sleep is meant to provide. Sleep is critical to health, just as important as a healthy diet and physical activity.

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Sleep Apnea Syndrome refers to transient cessation of respiration during sleep. The most common kind of sleep apnea is called Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSA) which is defined as the cessation of airflow during sleep preventing air from entering the lungs caused by an obstruction. It is characterized by repetitive episodes of upper airway obstruction that occur during sleep, usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. Another site of obstruction can be the nasal passages.

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Did you ever think obstructive sleep apnea may be one of the factors behind the United States’ high divorce rate? Accidents, low job productivity, and mental stress maybe, but divorce? It may sound strange but there is a connection with sleep apnea and divorce.

The Connection

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Sleep apnea surgery is one of the most controversial subjects in sleep medicine. There are heated debates within the sleep community as well as in online forums and support groups. Sleep apnea surgery is definitely not for everyone, for some, it can be a life-changing experience.

Here are 5 important issues that you must be aware of before considering any form of sleep apnea surgery:

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Do you wake up in the morning feeling as if you haven’t slept at all? Are you cranky, irritable, or depressed? Do you find yourself dozing off during movies or while performing routine tasks, including driving? Are you suddenly having difficulty with short-term memory or complex cognitive tasks?

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Deciding if you need sleep apnea treatment depends on many factors. Do you wake up in the middle of the night? Do you feel tired and dragging during the day even though you’ve had a full night’s sleep? Do you snore so bad you keep your bedmate or even your housemates up at night? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have a serious condition called sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is simply a disorder that causes you to stop breathing in the middle of the night, sometimes for up to a minute. Eventually, you wake up, begin breathing again, and go back to sleep; often you don’t even remember waking up at all.

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Sleep apnea is the temporary stoppage of breathing during sleep. Technically, a person is said to have sleep apnea if breathing stops for at least ten seconds, five times an hour. Your body responds to the stoppage of breathing by waking you, which leads to sleep apnea sufferers experiencing very poor sleep. In addition, sleep apnea sufferers tend to experience serious health complications including an increased risk for:

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