How Serious is Sleep Apnea?

by Sleep Better Columbus | Jan 6, 2021 | Sleep Apnea

What Does Sleep Apnea Cause

by Sleep Better Columbus | May 25, 2020 | Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder viewed by many as something minor and not much to worry about. But when you look beneath the surface and ask what does sleep apnea cause, astonishing details are revealed. As a result, in the past few years, this myth has been busted. And sleep apnea has become a widely popular topic. Why? Because of what life-threatening diseases it can cause or worsen.

However, there is so much more work to be done in spreading the word. In this article, we are going to go over some of the disorders that can manifest because of sleep apnea and how ignoring the signs and symptoms can cause more harm. You will learn how to recognize these symptoms and what you can do to get treated.

Sound good? Great… Let’s get started.

Sleep Apnea and Common Disorders It Can Cause

There are over 800 sleep disorders, but sleep apnea is the one more common in the United States. And has become a significant reason for health issues. It’s been confirmed that over 22 million Americans grapple with sleep apnea every night.

About 1 out of every 12 Americans suffer and are inadvertently encouraging future healthcare complications because of sleep apnea when it’s left undiagnosed and treated. And sadly, undiagnosed sleep apnea is the truth for 80% of cases.

So how do you avoid falling victim to perpetual healthcare decline from sleep apnea? You do so, by becoming aware and following the steps to get diagnosed and then treated by a sleep study doctor such Dr. Levy of Sleep Better Columbus. After all, if you suffer from sleep apnea you want someone who can improve your quality of life quickly and make things comfortable for you.

Common Disorders Sleep Apnea Promotes

Asking what does sleep apnea cause, but the greatest minds in sleep medicine to work. It’s only when the right questions are asked that the solution of the best treatment for a problem gets solved. Here is a list of the most common diseases affiliated with sleep apnea.

• High Blood Pressure (hypertension)
• Chronic Heart Failure (CHF)
• Atrial Fibrillation (AFib)
• Stroke (loss of blood flow to the brain)
• Depression
• Type-2 Diabetes
• Liver Problems
• Excessive Day Time Fatigue

As you can see, the list above is filled with serious life-threatening conditions and can cause life long consequences if discovered too late.

For example, how much would your life change if you fell asleep at the wheel? Or you drifted off to sleep as you were cooking something on the stove? These mistakes happen every single day because of sleep apnea. If you experienced either one these, how would your life be different?

Worsening Disorders

When you are already suffering from a disease or disorder like chronic heart failure obstructive sleep apnea will make it significantly worse. See when you fail to breathe as you sleep, you cause your co2 (aka) carbon monoxide to build up in your blood. As you breathe regularly moving oxygen and co2 in and out of your body you naturally retain some co2. But people who have sleep apnea have less oxygen in their blood and higher co2 levels.

This creates your blood to become thicker and also stunt the receptors in your body that tell your brain to breathe when sleeping. This causes more stress on the heart to work harder and harder, attempting to bring back homeostasis. Unfortunately without treatment of your sleep apnea, you remain in a vicious cycle of deterioration.

The only way to fix it is with help from a sleep doctor who can properly treat your individual case with the right positive pressure treatment or oral appliance treatment. It all depends on your type of sleep apnea.

This is only one case study of a worsening disorder. There are several outcomes base on the disease that sleep apnea can worsen.

Common Risk Factors To Sleep Apnea

Gender – Middle-aged and older men are more likely to acquire sleep apnea. Sleeping disorder breathing affects almost 50% of men and only 24% of women.

Note: Smoking drastically increases the risk of sleep apnea regardless of gender.

Obesity – There is a relationship between sleep apnea and obesity in around 60% of the cases that are diagnosed. Having a thicker neck because of larger fat deposits will instantly cause an increased risk of obstructing your airway.

Narrow airway – Conversely, being born with or having been in an accident that decreases your airway circumference, will also increase your risk for OSA.

Substance abuse – Using any sedatives or narcotics that impair the nervous system will increase your chances of sleep apnea, more so for CSA (Central Sleep Apnea). You must be careful when taking medications prescribed and know how your body will react.

Stroke – As we mentioned earlier, sleep apnea can cause a stroke. However, if you have already suffered from a stroke you are at a higher risk of acquiring this chronic disorder.

Having a family history – At times you will be predisposed to sleep apnea because it runs in your family. This doesn’t mean you’re destined for sleep apnea, it only means you must be vigilant in your awareness of how you are feeling. And paying attention to the symptoms of sleep apnea presents.

Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

Knowing what sleep apnea causes is part of the puzzle when piecing together the treatment and management of sleep apnea. Knowing how to pay attention to how you feel is also important. Here are some of the most common symptoms you can look out for – in your behavior or those close to you.

1. Snoring loudly
2. Chronic morning headaches
3. Waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air
4. Holding your breath in your sleep (observed by someone else)
5. Lack of focus while awake
6. Irritable
7. Insomnia (or waking up multiple times throughout the night)
8. When you wake up you have extremely dry mouth
9. Exhaustion throughout the day

These are some common symptoms of sleep apnea. And ones to pay attention too for signs you may need to see a sleep study specialist like Dr. Levy from Sleep Better Columbus.

In Conclusion

By now we don’t have to convince you that your sleep health is a necessity for a safe and happy life. Dr. Levy has treated hundreds of patients suffering from sleep apnea. He uses sleep study methods that help diagnose your sleep apnea is a comfortable way. Then afterward sit’s down with you and discuss your best options on treatment.

You may need an affordable state of the art CPAP device, or you may decide to use an oral appliance. You see, with the oral appliance you are fitted for a mouthpiece that can make sleep apnea treatment a breeze. Let our professional team help you with your diagnosis and treatment to ensure you live a long and healthy life.

It’s no longer hard to be diagnosed and treated. You’re not alone. Take the knowledge and the awareness of sleep apnea and make sure you avoid the mistakes so many others fail to avoid. Dr. Levy and staff at Sleep Better Columbus welcome you to call us at (614) 362-7292. The answer to the question – what does sleep apnea cause? Has been answered. The only thing left for you to do is trust us to help.

Irregular Sleep Patterns May Double Heart Disease Risk

by Sleep Better Columbus | Apr 9, 2020 | Sleep Apnea

A new study conducted by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston suggests that irregular sleep patterns may double your risk of heart disease. “Our study indicates that healthy sleep isn’t just about quantity but also about variability, and that this can have an important effect on heart health,” says Huang, the lead author on the study.

What Is Heart Disease?

Heart disease describes conditions that affect how the heart functions. It can refer to heart defects or conditions that cause irregular heart beats. These diseases can also affect the tissues surrounding the heart, such as the blood vessels and arteries. Heart disease includes the following conditions:

• Congenital Defects
• Arrhythmia
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Dilated Cardiomyopathy
• Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
• Heart Failure
• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
• Mitral Regurgitation
• Mitral Valve Prolapse
• Pulmonary Stenosis

According to the Center for Disease Control, “Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States.” This translates into heart disease being the leading cause in 1 of every 4 deaths in the US.

Risk Factors

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking are major risk factors for heart disease. According to the CDC, roughly half of Americans (47%) have at least one of these risk factors. Other health issues and lifestyle choices also increase your risk. These factors for heart disease include:

• Age – Age increases your risk of a variety of health problems. As we age the tissues of the heart and arteries thicken, become weak, or simply break down over time.
• Sex – Men are at increased risk of developing heart disease. Doctors believe this is due to where men carry most of their weight. A woman’s risk of heart disease increases after menopause.
• Family History – Your genes may predispose you to developing certain types of heart disease. Your risk may be especially high if a parent developed heart disease at an earlier age than normal.
• Diet – Diets high in fats, sugar, salt, and cholesterol can contribute to heart disease.
• Diabetes – Diabetes shares many of the same risk factors as heart disease.
• Obesity – Excessive weight gain worsens many of the other risk factors for heart disease.
• Physical Inactivity – Less active, less fit individuals are more likely to develop high blood pressure. They are also more likely to develop diabetes and become obese.
• Stress – Stress damages your arteries and worsens other risk factors.

Irregular Sleep Patterns: A Major Risk Factor

These risk factors are well documented by decades of studies and research. However, one major risk factor that has gone largely unresearched until now is sleep. “When we talk about interventions to prevent heart attacks and stroke, we focus on diet and exercise,” says Huang. “Even when we talk about sleep, we tend to focus on duration – how many hours a person sleeps each night – but not on sleep irregularity and the impact of going to bed at different times or sleeping different amounts from night to night.”

What we have learned from these decades of sleep studies is that sleep duration is very much a ‘Goldilocks’ zone. If you are getting too much or too little, your health outcomes decline. But when your amount of sleep is ‘just right’ health outcomes improve. These studies show that too much sleep has many of the same negative effects as too little sleep. And both contribute dramatically to many of the same risk factors for heart disease. According to a Gallup poll, the typical American adult gets less than 7 hours of sleep a night. While individual sleep needs may vary slightly, most people perform best on 8 hours of sleep a night. But if the duration of sleep was the only factor, then those who get 8 hours each night should have a lower risk, right? The study found that it may not be that simple.

The Brigham and Women’s Hospital study found that variation in bedtime and sleep duration had a major impact on health outcomes. The data showed those whose bed time varied by 90 minutes or more, and whose sleep duration varied by 2 or more hours a night were at the greatest risk. This group was “more likely to develop metabolic disorders such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes.” As a result, this group also reported nearly double the number of heart problems and cardiovascular events.

How Do I Reduce My Risks?

Huang states that “Sleep regularity is a modifiable behavior. In the future, we’d like to explore whether changing one’s sleep patterns by going to bed consistently each night may reduce a person’s risk of future cardiovascular events.” There are many things you can do to ensure a more consistent bedtime, including the following:

• Have a set bedtime
• Don’t wait to feel sleepy before getting ready for bed
• Turn off your phone, computer, and TV an hour before bed
• Avoid caffeine
• Have a nightly routine

Altering your habits to ensure a consistent bedtime and sleep duration should help reduce your risks.

Could Sleep Apnea Be To Blame?

The study did not address the causes of irregular sleep patterns, but they hypothesized that frequent waking was a factor. As many as 70 million US adults suffer from a some form of sleep disorder. The most common of which is Sleep Apnea.

Around 1 in 5 adults suffer from mild symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, with 1 in 15 having moderate to severe symptoms. Untreated, sleep apnea contributes to many of the same risk factors for heart disease. Unfortunately, most people who have the condition are unaware that they do. Researchers estimate that only about 20% of cases are ever diagnosed. If you have many of the same risk factors for heart disease or suspect you may not be getting restful sleep, speak with your doctor about sleep apnea.

Thankfully, sleep apnea is easy to treat. The usual, go-to treatment is to use a CPAP machine. With Obstructive Sleep Apnea the airway becomes partially or completely obstructed, preventing the movement of air through the lungs. The most common cause of obstruction is soft palate collapse. The soft tissues of the throat relax too much, blocking the airway. A CPAP works by pumping pressurized air into the airway to prevent airway collapse. However, CPAP masks are large, heavy, and often uncomfortable. As a result, patients often report low compliance with their prescribed sleep apnea therapy.

An equally effective, and less restrictive option is an oral appliance.  An oral appliance is a device designed to fit in the mouth. It shifts the lower jaw forward to prevent soft palate collapse. At Sleep Better Columbus we know the importance of getting a good night’s sleep. And an uncomfortable heavy mask is not the best solution for most patients. We specialize in custom fitted oral appliances. We ensure you get the best fit for a better night’s sleep.

Call Sleep Better Columbus at (614) 362-7292 for more information about irregular sleep patterns.

Can Sleep Apnea Cause Lung Problems?

by Sleep Better Columbus | Mar 19, 2020 | Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea can lead to many other health issues. Some of these health problems can cause sleep apnea, and others result from it. Interestingly, many of these health conditions involve the heart and lungs. So it might have you wondering: Can sleep apnea cause lung problems?

It’s true that sleep apnea affects your breathing. These apneas, or periods when breathing stops and starts, might make you think it is a lung disease. According to the American Lung Association, the term lung disease refers to any disorder affecting the lungs. This includes disorders like asthma, COPD, cancer, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and many others. While sleep apnea can have serious consequences for lung health, the primary function of the condition is sleep related.

What Is Sleep Apnea?

Before we look at how it affects your lung health, let’s look at what sleep apnea is.

Apnea is a ‘temporary cessation of breathing, especially during sleep’. Based on the definition, referring to the condition as ‘sleep apnea’ may seem redundant. But because apneas can occur at other times, it is an important distinction to make.

With sleep apnea, breathing stops and starts at least 5 times an hour, but can pause as many as several hundred times a night. These pauses can last anywhere from 5 seconds to several minutes at a time. When this happens, blood oxygen levels drop and trigger you to wake up. Frequent sleep disruptions causes a variety of side effects. These side effects may include:

• Irritability
• Slowed reaction time
• Difficulty focusing
• Fatigue
• Forgetfulness
• Driving accidents
• Depression

There are a few types of sleep apnea but the most common type is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). With OSA these apnea events occur when the airway becomes partially or completely blocked during sleep. The blockage may be due to several different factors.

Common causes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea are:

• Relaxation of the neck and throat muscles, causing the soft palate to collapse
• Tongue balling up in the back of the throat
• Fatty deposits in the tongue or neck restrict the airway
• Narrow airway

With OSA the brain continues sending messages to the body to breathe. The muscles of the chest and diaphragm work even harder to breathe but are not able to completely clear the blockage. This results in the loud snoring, choking, or gasping during sleep that is common for people with the condition.

Is Sleep Apnea a Respiratory Disorder?

With lung diseases the primary function of the disorder begins in the lungs. But, in sleep apnea the issue starts in the brain or in the airway itself and occurs only during sleep. As a result, it is most accurate to refer to sleep apnea as a form of sleep-disordered breathing.

Can Sleep Apnea Cause Lung Problems?

While classified as a sleep disorder, sleep apnea does lead to or worsen lung problems.

Research published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine found that patients with OSA had increased lung elasticity recoil pressure. The elastic quality of lung tissues is what allows them to expand and contract when you breathe. With increased lung elasticity recoil pressure the lungs snap back too forcefully. This creates a vacuum effect that contributes to airway collapse in OSA. The resulting reduction in lung volume increases the risk or worsens the symptoms of some very serious lung problems.

Lung problems that are common in patients with sleep apnea include:

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Asthma

COPD

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is an umbrella term for a group of conditions that make breathing difficult. This difficulty arises from clogged or narrow airways. It is usually the result of inflammation in the internal structures or damage to the air sacs in the lungs. This damage is typically caused by smoking and air pollutants.

A review in the journal Lung found that up to 66% of COPD sufferers also suffer from sleep apnea. As where only around 20% of patients with sleep apnea also have COPD. Doctors refer to this as “overlap syndrome”. Patients with COPD have an increased risk of heart attack. When paired with sleep apnea it will lead to high blood pressure, arrhythmia, heart failure, and stroke if left untreated. Unfortunately there is no cure for COPD and the condition tends to worsen over time. However, symptoms do improve with treatment and the use of sleep apnea therapy .

Pulmonary Hypertension

Patients with sleep apnea have an increased risk of developing pulmonary hypertension (PH). Pulmonary hypertension is a type of high blood pressure. It causes increased blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs and in the right side of the heart. Patients with pulmonary hypertension experience shortness of breath, dizziness, and chest pressure. How exactly sleep apnea causes pulmonary hypertension remains controversial. However, we know that periods of low blood oxygen (hypoxia) cause the heart to work harder to continue supplying oxygen to the body. With sleep apnea these periods of hypoxia happen more frequently, sometimes several hundred times a night. Studies show that as many as 82% of patients with PH have some form of sleep apnea. Like COPD, pulmonary hypertension worsens over time. Similarly, patients can reduce the severity of their symptoms and improve quality of life with treatment.

Asthma

Asthma is a condition in which a person’s airways are highly sensitive. When exposed to a trigger the airway becomes inflamed and swollen, restricting the flow of air through the lungs. This irritation also causes the lungs to secrete more mucus, making it even harder to breathe. Asthma and sleep apnea are both common conditions and seem to play off each other. In the BCM Pulmonary Medicine review researchers found a synergistic link between the two conditions. Subjects with OSA had a narrower airway on average, as did subjects who only had asthma. Airway diameter was even smaller in subjects who had both. They found that 49% of subjects with difficult-to-treat asthma also suffered from mild to moderate OSA. The data also showed a direct link between how intense their OSA was and the severity of their asthma symptoms. When asthma is well controlled, OSA symptoms also decrease.

Reduce the Risk of Your Apnea and Lung Problems 

The good news is that sleep apnea is easy to treat. Patients see improvement in their quality of life soon after beginning sleep apnea therapy . At Sleep Better Columbus we know how important it is to get a good night’s sleep. CPAP machines are a great option but we know they can be uncomfortable and make sleeping difficult. We provide high quality, custom fitted oral appliances to keep your airway clear. An oral appliance shifts the lower jaw forward. This prevents soft palate collapse and keeps the tongue from balling up at the back of the throat. Because our oral appliances are lightweight and custom fitted, patients have an easier time adjusting. This results in better compliance and faster relief. Reducing your symptoms will improve your quality of life and reduce your risks of lung problems.

Do you wonder if sleep apnea can cause lung problems? Call Sleep Better Columbus at (614) 362-7292 for more information.