I used to have trouble falling and staying asleep. Recently I had surgery to correct a deviated septum so that cured the sleep apnea. I no longer have trouble staying asleep, but I still have trouble falling asleep. What can I do about this? Should I see a doctor, a psychiatrist, what?

Does your child find it hard to get out of bed in the morning? is he sleepy during the day, falling behind in school or just plain cranky?

Although we all need enough sleep to function well during the day, children especially need their sleep, because it’s during sleep that body produces growth hormones. These hormones are essential for healthy development.

Almost one in three children are sleep deprived. So why is this happening and what can we do about it?

There are many reasons children may not be getting the sleep they need. Most of us know the more common things that keep our kids awake at night, for instance stress, not having a sleep routine and lack of exercise. There are however, a few lesser known causes of sleep problems in children and we’ll have a look at some of them here.

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Would A Sleep Apnea Machine Help For Asthma And Other Breathing Problems?

Scientists have found that a good night’s sleep can seriously improve your memory and a poor night’s sleep will have the reverse effect, leaving us tired, irritable and unable to recall events that happened only minutes earlier!

As we get older, our memory deteriorates slightly.  However, the common sleeping disorder known as sleep apnea might be responsible for much of our memory loss: sleep apnea and memory retention are connected.  Sleep apnea creeps up on us in that 90 – 95% of sufferers are unaware they have a problem, despite feeling exhausted during the day and unable to function efficiently.

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Millions and millions of Americans suffer from sleep apnea, a stoppage of breathing while sleeping that is characterized by loud gasps, physical struggles, and morning headaches as well as tremendous feelings of fatigue and sleepiness during the day.

Though there are many different cures for sleep apnea, most people can find a huge amount of relief through the use of sleep apnea masks.  They are called C-PAP masks that stand for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure mask.  Do not misunderstand; it is not the mask itself that cures sleep apnea.  It is important to note that the mask is linked by a lightweight air hose to a machine which makes continuous air that the sleeper is so direly in need of.

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Snoring is a loud noise that is created due to the vibration of the soft palate. It happens as the air passages gets obstructed during sleep and causes snoring. Snoring may be unpleasant for your partner but it is not a harmful condition. However, with the case of sleep apnea, there is complete blockage of the air passages which can cause major health conditions. There are many causes of sleep apnea and snoring problems.  

There are two types of sleep apnea: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and Central Sleep Apnea (CSA). Oxygen and sleep deprivation are the major effects of sleep apnea. OSA is the most common type of sleep apnea in which the throat collapses and the air passages are blocked preventing supply of oxygen to the lungs. In addition, snoring also leads to a drop in blood oxygen levels.  

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Sleep apnea is not a disorder to be taken lightly and is a condition that is not going to go away by itself in time. Sleep apnea is in fact classed as a “progressive disease” which means that just like heart disease, cancer and diabetes it worsens with time. There is considerable dispute in the medical community over the effect that sleep apnea has on other medical conditions. This said, there is a definite link between sleep apnea and a variety of physical conditions including hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, heart attack, pulmonary hypertension, stroke and kidney failure.

Researchers are looking more and more into why these conditions are linked to problems that erupt the upper airways of a person with sleep apnea. It is well known of course that being overweight, smoking and abusing alcohol contribute to sleep apnea and in turn lead to a higher probability of developing heart disease and high blood pressure. It is not clear however why some people without these elements in their lifestyle still have sleep apnea.

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Sleep disorders are becoming more and more common every year. In fact, there are millions of Americans who have at least one of these disorders. The most frequent sleep disorders are insomnia and snoring; however, the most dangerous disorder is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea occurs when a person stops breathing during the night for lapses of one minute.

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Efforts to discover what causes sleep apnea have been intense, and although the actual cause may not have been identified, researchers have discovered that sleep apnea (sleep apnoea) health problems can be serious.

There are several major risk factors for heart disease such as obesity, alcohol abuse, and smoking, but you might be surprised to find out that sleep apnea is also a major risk factor. Combine any of these factors, and the risk doubles for serious sleep apnoea health problems. For example, if you are obese and you suffer from sleep apnea, then your risk of heart problems increases.

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