Sleep Apnea: The Dangers Article

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Sleep Apnea: The Dangers

Sometimes snoring, while an annoyance, is harmless. However, many other times it is a telling sign that the snorer may also suffer from sleep apnea. If untreated, this condition is potentially life threatening.

Author: Paula Blackburn

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While death is the most extreme possibility, less severe instances of sleep apnea can cause long-term health problems like heart disease and the possibilities for a stroke. However, there are many ways to treat sleep apnea and the best course of action is to educate yourself by consulting with an cosmetic dentist who is also knowledge about this condition.

During episodes of sleep apnea, the sufferer’s tongue and throat tissue collapse into the throat due to the person’s relaxed sleep state. This inhibits breathing due to the blocked air passage in the throat. Lungs normally take in enough air to fill up about 95% of their capacity. During sleep apnea, this reduces to around 50%. The loud snoring is a result of this. Then, after a period normally of around ten seconds, the person forces air from the lungs to the throat, pushing out the lodged tissue. This is violent and disrupts normal, therapeutic sleep. People may wake up ten times in an hour because of this, though they’re not fully conscious. REM sleep is vital to rejuvenation, sleep apnea interrupts this deep state.

Some Dangers of Sleep Apnea
Depriving a person of healthy sleep leads to sluggishness and inability to concentrate during their waking hours. It can affect job or academic performance. Besides this, sleep apnea can lead to:

• Short-term memory loss
• Fibromyalgia
• Depression
• Increased muscle pain
• Anxiety
• Diabetes
• Gastric reflux
• Impotence
•Insomnia

Again, in the most extreme cases, people have died from sleep apnea too. Besides all of the potential dangers for sufferers, their partners and loved ones encounter problems too, namely their own difficulty sleeping because of the noise. In fact, on average the other person can lose roughly an hour’s worth of sleep a night. So, in essence, this is a problem for more than just the afflicted person.

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If you live in Portland, West Linn or Lake Oswego, Oregon, please visit the website of Wendling Cosmetic and Reconstructive Dentistry today to learn more about the dangers of sleep apnea.

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