Snore
But more than 12 million Americans suffer from the disorder, and an estimated 10 million more remain undiagnosed, the group believes. snore Sleep-apnea-and-dementia. The most common type of sleep apnea -- called obstructive -- occurs because the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes the airway, forcing a person to stop breathing repeatedly during sleep. But sleep apnea also can occur because of a brain-related problem -- referred to as central sleep apnea -- or because of a combination of the two causes. More than sleep can be affected, however. snore Severe sleep apnea. Madani says researchers have found a correlation between sleep apnea and heart attacks, stroke, depression, impotence, hypertension, memory loss and chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr. Robert Thornton, co-medical director of the Florida Hospital Sleep Laboratories, says the disorder frequently goes undiagnosed. snore American-sleep-disorder-association. "A lot of people who have terrible apnea don't know their sleep is affected by it," Thornton says. "They go to bed and they're so sleepy they feel as if they're sleeping through the night, and yet their sleep is constantly fragmented. " Often it takes someone else complaining about their snoring for a person to realize he or she might have a problem, he says. Or, people with sleep apnea sometimes are alerted by symptoms of sleep deprivation. "They're waking in the morning and they feel like they've not slept well," Thornton says. "They don't feel rested. " "During the daytime, they suffer symptoms of sleep deprivation," he says. "They are sleepy, irritable, grumpy, can't concentrate [and] they have trouble with their attention span. " Treating sleep apnea often starts with lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, sleeping on your side or avoiding alcohol. Sometimes surgery is suggested to reduce the amount of soft tissue blocking the airway. Or, a device can be worn in the mouth while you sleep to keep your airway open. The most common treatment, though, is use of a continuous positive airway pressure machine, called a CPAP machine. The person with sleep apnea wears a mask or device that fits on the nose, and the machine pumps in air at a pressure high enough to keep the airway open while the person sleeps. "It's safe, it's non-invasive and it works 95 percent of the time," Thornton says. But it's also a lifetime commitment, he says.
Snore
Disorders || American-sleep-disorder-association || Snoring-cause-cure || Hivox-snore-stopper