Snorers beware
Researchers say that one in four men suffer from sleep apnea and nearly one in 10 women do. Even moderate episodes of interrupted breathing at night can increase the risk of death significantly, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.
The causes of death are many, and they appear to be linked to repeated stretches of time when the body is deprived of oxygen over the course of a night, every night, for a long period of time.
The main symptom of apnea is snoring, loud snoring that often awakens the snorer. Still, many people with apnea don't even know they have the disorder.
Sleep apnea is believed to be on the rise because it is linked to the growing obesity epidemic in theh United States.
"These two disorders go in tandem," said Dr. Naresh M. Punjabi, a Hopkins pulmonologist and one of the authors of the study published online today in Public Library of Science, Medicine. "With weight gain, the likeliness of sleep apnea increases."
One of the first things a doctor recommends to an overweight person diagnosed with sleep apnea: Lose some weight.
Photo: Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun
Comments
The snoring actually isn't what arouses the sleep apnea patient ... snoring is just a symptom of the airway being restricted or blocked, causing a lack of oxygen to pass through. The person's brain reacts by jolting the person awake briefly ... so briefly that the arousal is not even recognized which means the person believes they slept well, but actually had multiple interruptions of their sleep. The result is extreme daytime sleepiness.
Posted by: Steve Gardner | August 18, 2009 11:00 AM
My husband has only been on the CPAP for less than two weeks and we are finally once again sleeping together. Although he gripes once in awhile he knows that he's still adjusting to it....FOR ME (Wife)...it's the best thing that has happened!! It's great ...Diana
Posted by: Diana | August 18, 2009 11:54 AM
My mom died from sleep apnea when she was 44 years old. She was obese, but was trying to lose weight. We thought that it was a family joke that her snoring sounded like a motorcycle engine. Not so funny. Now I'm 42, obese, and snoring so loud I wake myself up! I'm finally trying to lose the weight, lest I repeat the cycle...
Posted by: JCBaby | August 18, 2009 2:13 PM
Sleep apnea is also closely correlated with atrial fibrillation (afib), the most common irregular heartbeat and a leading cause of strokes and heart failure. It's nothing to fool around with.
If you suspect you have it, you probably do, and thus you should go for a sleep study. While snoring and being overweight are sometimes clues, even those that don't snore and aren't overweight may have sleep apnea.
For more about the relationship between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation, including some video, see .
Since starting on CPAP, I feel like my brain works again and I'm no longer as tired. I'm glad I found out I have sleep apnea when I did as we now know that both sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation can lead to Alzheimers and dementia as they both starve the brain of oxygen. In addition, not getting restful sleep makes you more at risk for a heart attack.
If you're concerned, get a sleep study. It's so much better than risking all the other things it can do to you.
Posted by: Mellanie True Hills | August 18, 2009 3:40 PM
The link in my comment above didn't come through, so let's try again...
For more about the relationship between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation, including some video, see: http://stopafib.org/causes.cfm
Mellanie
Posted by: Mellanie True Hills | August 18, 2009 3:56 PM