Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder marked by difficulty breathing while you sleep (your breathing slows down or stops completely). These breathing disruptions reduce your sleep quality, causing daytime fatigue. Other potential consequences for untreated sleep apnea include high blood pressure, heart disease, and asthma.<\/p>\n
There are three types of sleep apnea:<\/p>\n
The physical structure\u00a0of your throat or a pre-existing medical condition can cause you to develop sleep apnea. Common causes include<\/a>:<\/p>\n Symptoms of sleep apnea include loud snoring, reduced or paused breathing, and gasps for air while you sleep. You may not notice those symptoms if you live alone, but daytime symptoms include morning headaches and dry mouth, trouble concentrating or remembering things, and excessive daytime sleepiness.<\/p>\n Women with sleep apnea tend to report more headaches, fatigue, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and sleep disruptions than men. Children with sleep apnea may wet the bed, experience worsened asthma symptoms, be hyperactive, or have problems with learning and difficulty concentrating at school.<\/p>\n A risk factor is a variable that increases your risk of developing sleep apnea. Risk factors include:<\/p>\n Sleep apnea also increases the risk of developing:<\/p>\n Before diagnosing you with sleep apnea based upon your symptoms, medical history, and risk factors, a doctor will conduct a physical exam and refer you to a sleep specialist for a polysomnogram<\/a>, which is a sleep study that records bodily functions.<\/p>\n The physical exam will look for signs such as enlarged tonsils, obesity, a large neck circumference, a narrowed upper airway, jaw structure, heart rate, and your tongue size and position.<\/p>\n Your doctor may want to rule out medical conditions that can cause sleep apnea with a blood test and a pelvic ultrasound. Your doctor may also quiz you on recent medications and traveling history\u2014if you visited anywhere with an altitude higher than 6,000 feet, you may have sleep apnea symptoms a few weeks after from spending time in a low-oxygen area.<\/p>\n To diagnose sleep apnea, a\u00a0sleep study may be done at home or in a specialized sleep center. Sleep center studies can collect more information such as your blood oxygen levels, your brain and heart activity, and apnea events where your breathing slows or stops.<\/p>\n The most common treatment for sleep apnea is a CPAP machine. CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure, which perfectly describes how the device increases the air pressure inside your throat to prevent your airway from collapsing. As a bonus, CPAP therapy reduces snoring.<\/p>\n CPAP machines have a variety of mask options\u2014some have masks you can place over your nose and mouth, while others have a more compact mask that goes over the nose or prongs that fit inside your nostrils. It may take a few nights for you to adjust to the mask, particularly if it’s a large one that covers the face and mouth. Your doctor may even recommend a sleep study with your CPAP machine to determine your ideal settings.<\/p>\n If your sleep apnea is tied to obesity, regular exercise and weight loss can alleviate and even eliminate symptoms.\u00a0Harvard Medical School says<\/a>\u00a0experts emphasize pairing weight loss with CPAP therapy to treat OSA.<\/p>\n Sleeping on your side can alleviate symptoms of sleep apnea, as the position prevents gravity from collapsing the soft tissues in the back of the throat. If you\u2019re switching from back or stomach sleeping and need a new\u00a0mattress for side sleeping, look for a bed with a soft to medium feel.<\/p>\n Oral appliances such as mouthpieces can be custom-fit to open your upper airway. A doctor may prescribe a mouthpiece if you have mild sleep apnea, and you may need to visit a dentist or orthodontist to get fitted for your mouthpiece.<\/p>\n Surgical procedures can alleviate sleep apnea:<\/p>\n If you suspect you have sleep apnea, talk to your doctor about your symptoms, and discuss the possibility of arranging a sleep study. Sleep apnea is treatable with a few lifestyle changes and equipment like a CPAP machine or mouthguard. It may take some time to get used to the feel and sound of a CPAP machine, but getting a better night\u2019s sleep will make it all worthwhile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder marked by difficulty breathing while you sleep (your breathing slows down or stops completely). These breathing disruptions reduce your sleep quality, causing daytime fatigue. Other potential consequences for untreated sleep apnea include high blood pressure, heart disease, and asthma. Types of Sleep Apnea There are three types of sleep apnea: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when soft tissues at the back of your throat block your airway. It\u2019s the most common type of sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea\u00a0occurs when the brain fails to communicate with your breathing muscles. Complex sleep apnea\u00a0occurs when a person shows signs of both obstructive and central sleep apnea. Causes… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea-600x480.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Healthy Sleep","author_link":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/author\/healthysleep\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea.jpg","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea.jpg",700,480,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea-300x206.jpg",300,206,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea.jpg",700,480,false],"large":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea.jpg",700,480,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea.jpg",700,480,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea.jpg",700,480,false],"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"ab-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea-600x480.jpg",600,480,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sleep-apnea-125x125.jpg",125,125,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Healthy Sleep","author_link":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/author\/healthysleep\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder marked by difficulty breathing while you sleep (your breathing slows down or stops completely). These breathing disruptions reduce your sleep quality, causing daytime fatigue. Other potential consequences for untreated sleep apnea include high blood pressure, heart disease, and asthma. Types of Sleep Apnea There are three types of sleep…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16851,"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions\/16851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthysleep.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Symptoms of Sleep Apnea<\/h2>\n
Risk Factors for Sleep Apnea<\/h2>\n
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Diagnosing Sleep Apnea<\/h2>\n
Sleep Apnea Treatment Options<\/h2>\n
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Did We Help?<\/h2>\n