If you have been told that you are snoring, you might try to brush this off as something that is out of your control. While most people occasionally snore, generally when they have a cold or seasonal allergies, snoring can indicate a more serious problem called sleep apnea.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Whereas snoring is regular and uninterrupted, people with sleep apnea in Courtice will frequently stop breathing for several seconds, sometimes hundreds of times a night. The most common form of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnoea, where people stop breathing until the brain registers the drop in oxygen levels and prompts the body to restart breathing, frequently with a loud gasp or snort.
These interruptions in breathing aren’t enough to awaken the sufferer completely but prevent them from getting a good night’s sleep. Consequently, people with sleep apnoea in Newcastle often awaken feeling sleepy and ill-rested, and the effects can impact general health.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that can result in a higher risk of hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart problems. Additionally, if you don’t get enough sleep, the risk of having an accident at work or while driving is higher. Sleep apnea can also affect those close by, interrupting their ability to sleep comfortably through the night. The condition is caused by the airway collapsing inwards during sleep as the throat muscles relax, preventing normal breathing.
How Is Sleep Apnea Treated?
If you suspect you might have sleep apnea, it’s best to see your GP, who can probably refer you for a sleep study at a sleep clinic. During a sleep study, your sleep quality and vital signs are monitored overnight, and the data determines if you have mild, moderate or severe sleep apnea.
There are two ways of treating sleep apnea: an oral appliance that we can fabricate for you here at West Bowmanville Family Dental or a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. If you have mild or moderate sleep apnea, our dentists can custom make an oral appliance in Clarington for you, which helps hold your lower jaw and tongue forward while you sleep and is enough to help hold open your airway.
If you have more severe sleep apnea, you may need a CPAP device, where you wear a mask during sleep so a continuous stream of pressurized air can be pumped into your airway, keeping it open. Not everyone finds this device easy to tolerate, so if you are struggling, you may want to try wearing an oral appliance as it’s important to treat sleep apnoea. Some of the benefits of doing so are listed below.
- Wake up refreshed, as once you can breathe the entire night easily, you will benefit from better sleep quality as you will more easily achieve REM sleep needed for proper rest.
- You are reducing your risk of stroke and heart problems, as hypertension levels are higher in people with sleep disorders compared with people who do not have sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.
- Feel happier and reduce your risk of depression, as unsurprisingly, not getting enough rest can increase the risk of feeling depressed.
- Your risk of dying too early is higher in people with severe sleep apnea who haven’t received treatment.
- Treating sleep apnea can help manage diabetes more easily, helping to control blood sugar levels. Untreated sleep apnea can increase the risk of developing diabetes.
- One study discovered that people with obstructive sleep apnea had a higher risk of certain cancers, including breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer.