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sonic_death_monkey
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With the death of super athlete, super star, super person, Reggie White, many people have been asking "What is sleep apnea?". Here is an abridged definition of sleep apnea, its effects on the body, and how it can be diagnosed:
More on sleep apnea; ok.....upon initiating sleep the soft tissue around the oropharynx....(opening to your airway) begins to lose its tone. As you enter deeper sleep the tissue becomes flacid and will occlude the upper airway. This can partially block the airway leading to more shallow breathing (called hypopneas) or can completely obstruct the airway causing the patient to be unable to breath at all (called apnea).
When hypopneas/apneas occur during sleep blood oxygen saturation naturally drops and in an effort for the heart to keep the bodies blood oxygen saturation around normal it will beat faster.
Now these episodes of shallow/obstructed breathing happen all throughout the night for a person afflicted with sleep apnea. So the result is this cyclic rise and fall of blood oxygen saturation and heart beat.
So how does the body begin breathing normally to offset the apnea/hypopnea? Well the desaturation in Blood oxygen will trigger an arousal from sleep. This can come in the form of a snore, movement, or some other arousal. Since this pattern is repetitive throughout the night, the result is severely fragmented sleep.
The person with sleep apnea often doesn't even know that they have the condition. The symptoms manifest themselves in many ways. Some of the more common are morning headaches, daytime sleepiness, and multiple wakeful periods during sleep.
Obesity is one of the primary risk factors for sleep apnea, but what is of particular importance to all of us on EF is that Neck size can also be indicative of sleep apnea! The larger the neck, the more tissue there is surrounding the oropharynx and trachea! THis added pressure can cause apnea.
So how do you know if you are afflicted by sleep apnea? Well? There are sleep testing facilities that can perform an overnight polysomnogram on you to determine whether or not your breathing becomes obstructed as you sleep! A stay at one of these places can easily find out whether you may be suffering from obstructive sleep apnea!
More on sleep apnea; ok.....upon initiating sleep the soft tissue around the oropharynx....(opening to your airway) begins to lose its tone. As you enter deeper sleep the tissue becomes flacid and will occlude the upper airway. This can partially block the airway leading to more shallow breathing (called hypopneas) or can completely obstruct the airway causing the patient to be unable to breath at all (called apnea).
When hypopneas/apneas occur during sleep blood oxygen saturation naturally drops and in an effort for the heart to keep the bodies blood oxygen saturation around normal it will beat faster.
Now these episodes of shallow/obstructed breathing happen all throughout the night for a person afflicted with sleep apnea. So the result is this cyclic rise and fall of blood oxygen saturation and heart beat.
So how does the body begin breathing normally to offset the apnea/hypopnea? Well the desaturation in Blood oxygen will trigger an arousal from sleep. This can come in the form of a snore, movement, or some other arousal. Since this pattern is repetitive throughout the night, the result is severely fragmented sleep.
The person with sleep apnea often doesn't even know that they have the condition. The symptoms manifest themselves in many ways. Some of the more common are morning headaches, daytime sleepiness, and multiple wakeful periods during sleep.
Obesity is one of the primary risk factors for sleep apnea, but what is of particular importance to all of us on EF is that Neck size can also be indicative of sleep apnea! The larger the neck, the more tissue there is surrounding the oropharynx and trachea! THis added pressure can cause apnea.
So how do you know if you are afflicted by sleep apnea? Well? There are sleep testing facilities that can perform an overnight polysomnogram on you to determine whether or not your breathing becomes obstructed as you sleep! A stay at one of these places can easily find out whether you may be suffering from obstructive sleep apnea!
No wonder i sleep so well every time.
yea,thats a good cure for sleep apnea.
