Understanding Sleep Apnea Article

h3>Sleep Apnea May Be Disrupting Your Sleep

Many people have the misconception that sleep apnea is just another term for snoring. While sleep apnea is sometimes associated with snoring, it is a completely different occurrence. Both snoring and sleep apnea can keep the individual from getting a quality night's sleep; however sleep apnea is and can be a more serious sleeping disorder. Snoring is actually the sound that some people make while sleeping. The term 'sleep apnea' refers to an event where there is an actual obstruction of dome type which affects the person's breathing during sleep. An individual that is suffering from true sleep apnea will have instances where they stop breathing during sleep, sometimes even several times in one night. This situation causes the individual to wake up so they can once again start to breathe.

Those who experience sleep apnea usually will have frequent disruptions of their sleep during the night's sleep. Studies have shown that most episodes of the lapses in breathing will usually last for no longer than ten seconds. Unfortunately for the sufferer, these breathing lapses may occur upwards of thirty times or more an hour. So as you can probably imagine, true sleep apnea can cause the sufferer considerable sleep disruption and cause sleep deprivation.

So if sleep apnea occurs during one's sleep, exactly how would one know if the had true sleep apnea? Well to be truthful, there are many individuals who are totally unaware that they are afflicted with sleep apnea. Instead, many times it is the individual's sleep partner who notices that the sufferer is undergoing start and stop breathing bouts. If a sleep partner is not the one who alerts the person to the sleep apnea, then the person notices that they aren't getting the rest they need and that something is interrupting their nightly slumber. One of the reasons that sleep apnea is taken notice of is that the person is having problems staying awake during the day, and that they wake up daily with a bad headache.

Sleep apnea seems to occur most often in the male population; however it can happen to almost anyone. There are risk factors which can elevate one's risk of suffering from the sleep disorder. An individual who suffers from high blood pressure, abuses alcohol, is overweight or suffers from nasal or throat infections will run an increased chance of having sleep apnea.

Adults are not the only ones who can be vulnerable to the sleep disorder. Children who seem to habitually snore excessively or who suffer from continued restless sleep may also be suffering from the sleep apnea disorder. It should also be noted that many times, if the child has enlarged tonsils or adenoids, this too can cause a child to suffer from sleep apnea.

If you are diagnosed as suffering from sleep apnea, then you should know that most treatments start off with a change in your lifestyle. Sleep apnea sufferers are encouraged to start a weight loss regimen along with maintaining a healthy diet. It is also suggested that alcohol intake be limited, and that sleeping pills are not used.