Why Worry About Sleep Apnea?

{Have you heard of the condition called sleep apnea?}  Have you been told that you have this condition?  If that is the case, you need treatment right away because it is dangerous and can be deadly.

The term "apnea" refers to a cessation of breathing.  Swimmers practice static apnea, meaning holding their breath for longer periods of time.  If you have sleep apnea, you stop breathing while you sleep.  Usually this is just for a few moments; the body has many safeguards in place to protect it from such problems.  As someone with sleep apnea stops breathing while sleeping, their body will react to restart breathing again.  But usually this involves actually waking up if even for a few seconds so breathing can be started.Sometimes a person suffering from sleep apnea may not even be aware that they are waking up at times so they may not understand why they are constantly feeling tired during the day.  In reality those who have extreme cases of sleep apnea may wake up several times during the night which means they never get the quality, deep sleep that they need and that's important for their overall health.  So they go through their day feeling fatigued and rundown and not realizing why.  {This lack of quality sleep is related to many health problems, including daytime drowsiness, headaches, mood swings and irritability, and a buildup of toxins in the blood.}  Because the body actually stops breathing, even momentarily, sleep apnea can also cause brain damage because the brain is not supposed to go without oxygen for any length of time, even those few moment.  In some cases a patient has not been able to wake up in order to get themselves breathing again and this has resulted in death.

Sleep apnea shouldnot be dismissed as a minor irritation as the reality is that it can have quite serious consequences.  A doctor can perform a physical exam and give recommendations for treating your own case of sleep apnea and in some cases a CPAP machine might be recommended to keep oxygen coming into the body on a regular basis.It may be time to do something about an obesity problem if it is this that is causing your condition. It could be that you just need to shift some excess weight.