Okemos, Lansing, East Lansing MI
By now, most people have at least heard of sleep apnea, but not all people know how dangerous it is to overall health. The condition is characterized by breathing interruptions while sleeping. Pauses in breathing last only 10-20 seconds, and they can occur several times each night — up to 100 times in severe cases. Most people don’t recall being startled awake each time they stop breathing during the night, but the frequent sleep-cycle disruptions result in light, restless sleep that impairs concentration and productivity during the day. Sleep apnea has numerous negative effects on a person’s health and can even prove to be fatal.
Today, our Okemos dentists who specialize in sleep apnea and airway dentistry discuss how treating sleep apnea can help you live a healthier, longer life.
Snoring and health risks
Snoring is a warning sign and a tell-tale sign of sleep apnea. It indicates that a person’s airway is blocked and the body isn’t receiving adequate oxygen. This poses multiple health risks. In addition to feeling fatigued throughout the day from missing sleep at night, sleep loss can also lead to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, heart attack, stroke and depression.
Increased snoring
While snorers don’t realize the disruptions they’re causing, their sleeping partner does. This often leads to separate sleeping situations. Avoiding treatment only prolongs and intensifies snoring. Louder snoring confirms the condition is advancing, leading to serious health problems. If your sleep partner complains about worsening snoring, contact our Lansing area airway dentists who specialize in sleep apnea.
Daytime fatigue
It only makes sense that people who struggle to breathe during their sleep and are constantly interrupted by snoring and paused breathing would be tired during the daytime. When airways are blocked, brains must wake up bodies to tell them to breathe. This is what causes disruptions to sleep cycles. Excessive fatigue can lead to possibly disastrous consequences, including falling asleep behind the wheel of a car while driving.
Headaches
Chronically waking up with a headache can feel crippling as the intense pressure clouds thinking and concentration. This can lead to workplace accidents, missed deadlines and other mistakes on the job. Snoring at night can cause morning headaches because as airways become blocked, proper oxygen flow is restricted to the body and brain.
Weight control
Studies continuously link snoring and problems with weight control. People who are overweight have excess fat tissues blocking their airways, often leading to loud snoring. It’s a vicious cycle because when someone isn’t able to receive uninterrupted sleep, it often interferes with efforts to lose weight.
Difficulty concentrating or remembering
Our sleep apnea specialists in the E. Lansing area explain that our brains require oxygen to function. While snoring, a person’s brain and body do not receive the needed oxygen for daily functions. This results in an inability to concentrate, a lack of focus and challenges trying to remember things. Snoring also disrupts the brain from REM sleep — the deepest stage of the sleep cycle — which means the brain cannot properly restore and rejuvenate.
Airway Dentistry in East Lansing and Okemos
Sleep deprivation because of sleep apnea is a chronic, dangerous health problem that often goes undiagnosed because millions of people accept their snoring as natural since so many people snore. But snoring is usually a symptom of a much larger medical condition that worsens over time if left untreated. Our sleep-apnea dentists at Tenaglia Smiles can answer any questions you have about sleep apnea and its treatment. Call us today at (517) 940-8684 to schedule a consultation.